Hybrid pepper plant named skyhawk

ABSTRACT

A novel hybrid pepper plant, designated SKYHAWK is disclosed. The invention relates to the seeds of pepper hybrid SKYHAWK, to the plants and plant parts of hybrid pepper SKYHAWK, and to methods for producing a pepper plant by crossing the hybrid pepper SKYHAWK with itself or another pepper plant.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to the field of agriculture, to new anddistinctive hybrid pepper plants, such as hybrid plant designatedSKYHAWK and to methods of making and using such hybrids.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The following description includes information that may be useful inunderstanding the present invention. It is not an admission that any ofthe information provided herein is prior art or relevant to thepresently claimed inventions, or that any publication specifically orimplicitly referenced is prior art.

Pepper is an important and valuable vegetable crop. Thus, a continuinggoal of plant breeders is to develop stable, high yielding pepperhybrids that are agronomically sound or unique. The reasons for thisgoal are to maximize the amount of fruit produced on the land used(yield) as well as to improve the fruit appearance, the fruit shape andsize, eating and processing qualities and/or the plant agronomic andhorticultural qualities. To accomplish this goal, the pepper breedermust select and develop pepper plants that have the traits that resultin superior parental lines that combine to produce superior hybrids.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The following embodiments and aspects thereof are described inconjunction with systems, tools and methods which are meant to beexemplary, not limiting in scope.

In various embodiments, one or more of the above-described problems havebeen reduced or eliminated, while other embodiments are directed toother improvements.

According to the invention, in some embodiments there is provided anovel hybrid pepper, designated SKYHAWK.

This invention thus relates to the seeds of hybrid pepper designatedSKYHAWK, to the plants or parts thereof of hybrid pepper designatedSKYHAWK, to plants or parts thereof consisting essentially all of thephysiological and morphological characteristics of hybrid pepperdesignated SKYHAWK or parts thereof, and/or having all the physiologicaland morphological characteristics of hybrid pepper designated SKYHAWK,and/or having one or more or all of the characteristics of hybrid pepperdesignated SKYHAWK listed in Table 1 including but not limited to asdetermined at the 5% significance level when grown in the sameenvironmental conditions, and/or having one or more of the physiologicaland morphological characteristics of hybrid pepper designated SKYHAWKlisted in Table 1 including but not limited to as determined at the 5%significance level when grown in the same environmental conditionsand/or having all the physiological and morphological characteristics ofhybrid pepper designated SKYHAWK listed in Table 1 including but notlimited to as determined at the 5% significance level when grown in thesame environmental conditions and/or having all the physiological andmorphological characteristics of hybrid pepper designated SKYHAWK listedin Table 1 when grown in the same environmental conditions. Theinvention also relates to variants, mutants and trivial modifications ofthe seed or plant of hybrid pepper designated SKYHAWK.

Plant parts of the hybrid pepper plant of the present invention are alsoprovided, such as, but not limited to, a scion, a rootstock, a fruit,leaf, flower, peduncle, stalk, root, anther cell, pollen or ovuleobtained from the hybrid plant. The present invention provides fruit ofthe hybrid pepper of the present invention. Such fruit and parts thereofcould be used as fresh products for consumption or in processesresulting in processed products such as food products comprising one ormore harvested part of the hybrid pepper designated SKYHAWK, such asprepared fruit or parts thereof, canned fruit or parts thereof, freezedried or frozen fruit or parts thereof, diced fruits, juice, preparedfruit cuts, canned pepper, pastes, sauces, puree and the like. All suchproducts are part of the present invention and the like. The harvestedpart or food product can be or can comprise hybrid pepper fruit fromhybrid pepper designated SKYHAWK. The food products might have undergoneone or more processing steps such as, but not limited to cutting,washing, mixing, frizzing, canning, etc. All such products are part ofthe present invention. The present invention also provides plant partsor cells, wherein a plant regenerated from said plants parts or cellshas one or more, or essentially all of the phenotypic and morphologicalcharacteristics of hybrid pepper designated SKYHAWK7349, such as one ormore or all of the characteristics of hybrid pepper designatedSKYHAWK7349, listed in Table 1 including but not limited to asdetermined at the 5% significance level when grown in the sameenvironmental conditions.

The plants and seeds of the present invention include those that may beof an essentially derived variety as defined in section 41(3) of thePlant Variety Protection Act of The United States of America, e.g., avariety that is predominantly derived from hybrid pepper designatedSKYHAWK or from a variety that i) is predominantly derived from hybridpepper designated SKYHAWK, while retaining the expression of theessential characteristics that result from the genotype or combinationof genotypes of hybrid pepper designated SKYHAWK; ii) is clearlydistinguishable from hybrid pepper designated SKYHAWK; and iii) exceptfor differences that result from the act of derivation, conforms to theinitial variety in the expression of the essential characteristics thatresult from the genotype or combination of genotypes of the initialvariety.

In another aspect, the present invention provides regenerable cells. Insome embodiments, the regenerable cells are for use in tissue culture ofhybrid pepper designated SKYHAWK. In some embodiments, the tissueculture is capable of regenerating plants consisting essentially all ofthe physiological and morphological characteristics of hybrid pepperdesignated SKYHAWK, and/or having all the physiological andmorphological characteristics of hybrid pepper designated SKYHAWK,and/or having the physiological and morphological characteristics ofhybrid pepper designated SKYHAWK, and/or having the characteristics ofhybrid pepper designated SKYHAWK. In one embodiment, the regeneratedplants have the characteristics of hybrid pepper designated SKYHAWKlisted in Table 1 including but not limited to as determined at the 5%significance level when grown in the same environmental conditions.

In some embodiments, the plant parts and cells used to produce suchtissue cultures will be embryos, meristematic cells, seeds, callus,pollen, leaves, anthers, pistils, roots, root tips, stems, petioles,fruits, cotyledons, hypocotyls, ovaries, seed coat, fruits, stalks,endosperm, flowers, axillary buds or the like. Protoplasts produced fromsuch tissue culture are also included in the present invention. Thepepper shoots, roots and whole plants regenerated from the tissueculture, as well as the fruit produced by said regenerated plants arealso part of the invention. In some embodiments, the whole plantsregenerated from the tissue culture have one, more than one, or all ofthe physiological and morphological characteristics of pepper hybriddesignated SKYHAWK listed in Table 1 including but not limited to asdetermined at the 5% significance level when grown in the sameenvironmental conditions.

The invention also discloses methods for vegetatively propagating aplant of the present invention. In the present application, vegetativelypropagating can be interchangeably used with vegetative reproduction. Insome embodiments, the methods comprise collecting a part of a hybridpepper designated SKYHAWK and regenerating a plant from said part. Insome embodiments, the part can be for example a stem cutting that isrooted into an appropriate medium according to techniques known by theone skilled in the art. Plants, plant parts and fruits thereof producedby such methods are also included in the present invention. In anotheraspect, the plants and fruits thereof produced by such methods consistessentially all of the physiological and morphological characteristicsof hybrid pepper designated SKYHAWK, and/or having all the physiologicaland morphological characteristics of hybrid pepper designated SKYHAWKand/or having the physiological and morphological characteristics ofhybrid pepper designated SKYHAWK and/or having the characteristics ofhybrid pepper designated SKYHAWK. In some embodiments, plants or fruitsthereof produced by such methods consist of one, more than one, or allphysiological and morphological characteristics of pepper hybriddesignated SKYHAWK listed in Table 1 including but not limited to asdetermined at the 5% significance level when grown in the sameenvironmental conditions.

Further included in the invention are methods for producing fruitsand/or seeds from the hybrid pepper designated SKYHAWK. In someembodiments, the methods comprise growing a hybrid pepper designatedSKYHAWK to produce pepper fruits and/or seeds. In some embodiments, themethods further comprise harvesting the hybrid pepper fruits and/orseeds. Such fruits and/or seeds are part of the present invention. Insome embodiments, such fruits and/or seeds have all the physiologicaland morphological characteristics of fruit and seed of hybrid pepperdesignated SKYHAWK (e.g. those listed in Table 1) when grown in the sameenvironmental conditions.

Also included in this invention are methods for producing a pepperplant. In some embodiments, the pepper plant is produced by crossing thehybrid pepper designated SKYHAWK with itself or another pepper plant. Insome embodiments, the other plant can be a pepper hybrid or line. Whencrossed with an inbred line, in some embodiments, a “three-way cross” isproduced. When crossed with itself or with another, different hybridpepper, in some embodiments, a “four-way” cross is produced. Such threeand four-way hybrid seeds and plants produced by growing said three andfour-way hybrid seeds are included in the present invention. Methods forproducing a three and four-way hybrid pepper seed comprising crossinghybrid pepper designated SKYHAWK pepper plant with a different pepperline or hybrid and harvesting the resultant hybrid pepper seed are alsopart of the invention. The hybrid pepper seeds produced by the methodcomprising crossing hybrid pepper designated SKYHAWK pepper plant with adifferent pepper plant and harvesting the resultant hybrid pepper seedare included in the invention, as are included the hybrid pepper plantor parts thereof and seeds produced by said grown hybrid pepper plants.

Further included in the invention are methods for producing pepper seedsand plants made thereof. In some embodiments, the methods compriseself-pollinating the hybrid pepper designated SKYHAWK and harvesting theresultant hybrid seeds. Pepper seeds produced by such method are alsopart of the invention.

In another embodiment, this invention relates to methods for producing ahybrid pepper designated SKYHAWK from a collection of seeds. In someembodiments, the collection contains both seeds of inbred parent line(s)of hybrid pepper designated SKYHAWK seeds and hybrid seeds of SKYHAWK.Such a collection of seeds might be a commercial bag of seeds. In someembodiments, said methods comprise planting the collection of seeds.When planted, the collection of seeds will produce inbred parent linesof hybrid pepper SKYHAWK and hybrid plants from the hybrid seeds ofSKYHAWK. In some embodiments, said inbred parent lines of hybrid pepperdesignated SKYHAWK plants are identified as having a decreased vigorcompared to the other plants (i.e. hybrid plants) grown from thecollection of seeds. In some embodiments, said decreased vigor is due tothe inbreeding depression effect and can be identified for example by aless vigorous appearance for vegetative and/or reproductivecharacteristics including a shorter plant height, small fruit size,fruit shape, fruit color or other characteristics. In some embodiments,seeds of the inbred parent lines of the hybrid pepper SKYHAWK arecollected and, if new inbred plants thereof are grown and crossed in acontrolled manner with each other, the hybrid pepper SKYHAWK will berecreated.

This invention also relates to methods for producing other pepper plantsderived from hybrid pepper SKYHAWK and to the pepper plants derived bythe use of those methods.

In some embodiments, such methods for producing a pepper plant derivedfrom the hybrid variety SKYHAWK comprise (a) self-pollinating the hybridpepper SKYHAWK plant at least once to produce a progeny plant derivedfrom pepper hybrid SKYHAWK; In some embodiments, the methods furthercomprise (b) crossing the progeny plant derived from pepper hybridSKYHAWK with itself or a second pepper plant to produce a seed of aprogeny plant of a subsequent generation; In some embodiments, themethods further comprise (c) growing the progeny plant of the subsequentgeneration; In some embodiments, the methods further comprise (d)crossing the progeny plant of the subsequent generation with itself or asecond pepper plant to produce a pepper plant further derived from thehybrid pepper SKYHAWK. In further embodiments, steps (b), (c) and/or (d)are repeated for at least 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, or more generations toproduce a pepper plant derived from the hybrid pepper variety SKYHAWK.In some embodiments, within each crossing cycle, the second plant is thesame plant as the second plant in the last crossing cycle. In someembodiments, within each crossing cycle, the second plant is differentfrom the second plant in the last crossing cycle.

Another method for producing a pepper plant derived from the hybridvariety SKYHAWK, comprises the steps of: (a) crossing the hybrid pepperSKYHAWK plant with a second pepper plant to produce a progeny plantderived from pepper hybrid SKYHAWK; In some embodiments, the methodfurther comprise (b) crossing the progeny plant derived from pepperhybrid SKYHAWK with itself or a second pepper plant to produce a seed ofa progeny plant of a subsequent generation; In some embodiments, themethod further comprise (c) growing the progeny plant of the subsequentgeneration; In some embodiments, the method further comprise (d)crossing the progeny plant of the subsequent generation with itself or asecond pepper plant to produce a pepper plant derived from the hybridpepper variety SKYHAWK. In a further embodiment, steps (b), (c) and/or(d) are repeated for at least 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, or moregenerations to produce a pepper plant derived from the hybrid peppervariety SKYHAWK. In some embodiments, within each crossing cycle, thesecond plant is the same plant as the second plant in the last crossingcycle. In some embodiments, within each crossing cycle, the second plantis different from the second plant in the last crossing cycle.

In another aspect, the present invention provides methods of introducingor modifying one or more desired trait(s) into the hybrid pepper SKYHAWKand plants or seeds obtained from such methods. The desired trait(s) maybe, but not exclusively, a single gene. In some embodiments, the gene isa dominant allele. In some embodiments, the gene is a partially dominantallele. In some embodiments, the gene is a recessive allele. In someembodiments, the gene or genes will confer such traits, including butnot limited to male sterility, herbicide resistance, insect resistance,resistance for bacterial, fungal, mycoplasma or viral disease, enhancedplant quality such as improved drought or salt tolerance, water-stresstolerance, improved standability, enhanced plant vigor, improved shelflife, delayed senescence or controlled ripening, enhanced nutritionalquality such as increased sugar content or increased sweetness,increased texture, flavor and aroma, improved fruit length and/or size,protection for color, fruit shape, uniformity, length or diameter,refinement or depth, lodging resistance, yield and recovery, improvefresh cut application, specific aromatic compounds, specific volatiles,flesh texture, specific nutritional components. For the presentinvention and the skilled artisan, disease is understood to include, butnot limited to fungal diseases, viral diseases, bacterial diseases,mycoplasm diseases, or other plant pathogenic diseases and a diseaseresistant plant will encompass a plant resistant to fungal, viral,bacterial, mycoplasm, and other plant pathogens. The gene or genes maybe naturally occurring pepper gene(s), mutant(s), or genes modifiedthrough the use of New Breeding Techniques. In some embodiments, themethod for introducing the desired trait(s) is a backcrossing processmaking use of a series of backcrosses to at least one of the parentlines of hybrid pepper SKYHAWK during which the desired trait(s) ismaintained by selection. The single gene conversion plants that can beobtained by the methods are included in the present invention.

When dealing with a gene that has been modified, for example through NewBreeding Techniques, the trait (genetic modification) could be directlymodified into the newly developed line/cultivar such as at least one ofthe parent lines of hybrid pepper SKYHAWK. Alternatively, if the traitis not modified into each newly developed line/cultivar such as at leastone of the parent lines of hybrid pepper SKYHAWK, another typical methodused by breeders of ordinary skill in the art to incorporate themodified gene is to take a line already carrying the modified gene andto use such line as a donor line to transfer the modified gene into oneor more of the parents of the newly developed hybrid.

The same would apply for a naturally occurring trait or one arising fromspontaneous or induced mutations.

In some embodiments, the backcross breeding process of hybrid pepperSKYHAWK comprises (a) crossing one of the parental inbred line plants ofSKYHAWK with plants of another line that comprise the desired trait(s)to produce F1 progeny plants In some embodiments, the process furthercomprises (b) selecting the F1 progeny plants that have the desiredtrait(s) In some embodiments, the process further comprises (c) crossingthe selected F1 progeny plants with the parental inbred pepper lines ofhybrid SKYHAWK plants to produce backcross progeny plants In someembodiments, the process further comprises (d) selecting for backcrossprogeny plants that have the desired trait(s) and physiological andmorphological characteristics of the pepper parental inbred line ofhybrid pepper SKYHAWK to produce selected backcross progeny plants; Insome embodiments, the process further comprises (e) repeating steps (c)and (d) one, two, three, four, five six, seven, eight, nine or moretimes in succession to produce selected, second, third, fourth, fifth,sixth, seventh, eighth, ninth or higher backcross progeny plants thathave the desired trait(s) and otherwise consist essentially all of thephysiological and morphological characteristics of the parental inbredpepper line of hybrid pepper SKYHAWK, and/or have the desired trait(s)and otherwise the physiological and morphological characteristics of theparental pepper inbred line of hybrid pepper SKYHAWK, and/or have allthe desired trait(s) and otherwise the physiological and morphologicalcharacteristics of the parental inbred pepper line of pepper hybridSKYHAWK as determined in Table 1, including but not limited to whengrown in the same environmental conditions or including but not limitedto at a 5% significance level when grown in the same environmentalconditions. The pepper plants or seed produced by the methods are alsopart of the invention, as are the hybrid pepper SKYHAWK plants thatcomprised the desired trait. Backcrossing breeding methods, well knownto one skilled in the art of plant breeding will be further developed insubsequent parts of the specification.

In an embodiment of this invention is a method of making a backcrossconversion of hybrid pepper SKYHAWK. In some embodiments, the methodcomprises crossing one of the parental pepper inbred line plants ofhybrid SKYHAWK with a donor plant comprising a mutant gene(s), anaturally occurring gene(s) or a gene(s) and/or sequences modifiedthrough New Breeding Techniques conferring one or more desired trait toproduce F1 progeny plants. In some embodiments, the method furthercomprises selecting an F1 progeny plant comprising the naturallyoccurring gene(s), mutant gene(s) or modified gene(s) and/or sequencesconferring the one or more desired trait; In some embodiments, themethod further comprises backcrossing the selected progeny plant to theparental pepper inbred line plants of hybrid SKYHAWK. This method mayfurther comprise the step of obtaining a molecular marker profile of theparental pepper inbred line plants of hybrid SKYHAWK and using themolecular marker profile to select for the progeny plant with thedesired trait and the molecular marker profile of the parental pepperinbred line plants of hybrid SKYHAWK. In some embodiments, this methodfurther comprises crossing the backcross progeny plant SKYHAWKcontaining the naturally occurring gene(s), the mutant gene(s) or themodified gene(s) and or sequences conferring the one or more desiredtrait with the second parental inbred pepper line plants of hybridpepper SKYHAWK in order to produce the hybrid pepper SKYHAWK comprisingthe naturally occurring gene(s), the mutant gene(s) or modified gene(s)and/or sequences conferring the one or more desired traits. The plantsor parts thereof produced by such methods are also part of the presentinvention.

In some embodiments of the invention, the number of loci that may bebackcrossed into the parental pepper inbred line of hybrid SKYHAWK is atleast 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, or more.

A single locus may contain several genes. A single locus conversion alsoallows for making one or more site specific changes to the plant genome,such as, without limitation, one or more nucleotide change, deletion,insertions, etc. In some embodiments, the single locus conversion isperformed by genome editing, a.k.a. genome editing with engineerednucleases (GEEN). In some embodiments, the genome editing comprisesusing one or more engineered nucleases. In some embodiments, theengineered nucleases include, but are not limited to Zinc fingernucleases (ZFNs), Transcription Activator-Like Effector Nucleases(TALEN5), the CRISPR/Cas system, and engineered meganucleasere-engineered homing endonucleases and endonucleases for DNA guidedgenome editing (Gao et al., Nature Biotechnology (2016), doi:10.1038/nbt.3547). In some embodiments, the single locus conversionchanges one or several nucleotides of the plant genome. Such genomeediting techniques are some of the techniques now known by the personskilled in the art and herein are collectively referred to as “NewBreeding Techniques”. In some embodiments, one or more above-mentionedgenome editing method is directly applied on a plant of the presentinvention, rather than the parental pepper inbred lines of hybridSKYHAWK. Accordingly, a cell containing edited genome, or a plant partcontaining such cell can be isolated and used to regenerate a novelplant which has a new trait conferred by said genome editing, andotherwise all of the physiological and morphological characteristics ofhybrid pepper plant SKYHAWK.

The invention further provides methods for developing pepper plants in apepper plant breeding program using plant breeding techniques includingbut not limited to, recurrent selection, backcrossing, pedigreebreeding, genomic selection, molecular marker (Isozyme Electrophoresis,Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphisms (RFLPs), Randomly AmplifiedPolymorphic DNAs (RAPDs), Arbitrarily Primed Polymerase Chain Reaction(AP-PCR), DNA Amplification Fingerprinting (DAF), Sequence CharacterizedAmplified Regions (SCARs), Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphisms(AFLPs), and Simple Sequence Repeats (SSRs) which are also referred toas Microsatellites, Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP), etc.) enhancedselection, genetic marker enhanced selection and transformation. Seeds,pepper plants, and parts thereof produced by such breeding methods arealso part of the invention.

The invention also relates to variants, mutants and trivialmodifications of the seed or plant of the pepper hybrid SKYHAWK orinbred parental lines thereof. Variants, mutants and trivialmodifications of the seed or plant of hybrid pepper SKYHAWK or inbredparental lines thereof can be generated by methods available to oneskilled in the art, including but not limited to, mutagenesis (e.g.,chemical mutagenesis, radiation mutagenesis, transposon mutagenesis,insertional mutagenesis, signature tagged mutagenesis, site-directedmutagenesis, and natural mutagenesis), knock-outs/knock-ins, antisenseand RNA interference and other techniques such as the New BreedingTechniques. For more information of mutagenesis in plants, such asagents or protocols, see Acquaah et al. (Principles of plant geneticsand breeding, Wiley-Blackwell, 2007, ISBN 1405136464, 9781405136464,which is herein incorporated by reference in its entity).

The invention also relates to a mutagenized population of the hybridpepper SKYHAWK and methods of using such populations. In someembodiments, the mutagenized population can be used in screening for newpepper plants which comprise one or more or all of the morphological andphysiological characteristics of hybrid pepper SKYHAWK. In someembodiments, the new pepper plants obtained from the screening processcomprise all of the morphological and physiological characteristics ofthe pepper hybrid SKYHAWK and one or more additional or differentmorphological and physiological characteristics that the pepper hybridSKYHAWK does not have.

This invention also is directed to methods for producing a pepper plantby crossing a first parent pepper plant with a second parent pepperplant wherein either the first or second parent pepper plant is a hybridpepper plant of SKYHAWK. Further, both first and second parent pepperplants can come from the hybrid pepper plant SKYHAWK. Further, thehybrid pepper plant SKYHAWK can be self-pollinated i.e. the pollen of ahybrid pepper plant SKYHAWK can pollinate the ovule of the same hybridpepper plant SKYHAWK. When crossed with another pepper plant, a hybridseed is produced. Such methods of hybridization and self-pollination arewell known to those skilled in the art of breeding.

An inbred pepper line such as one of the parental lines of hybrid pepperSKYHAWK has been produced through several cycles of self-pollination andis therefore to be considered as a homozygous line. An inbred line canalso be produced though the dihaploid system which involves doubling thechromosomes from a haploid plant or embryo thus resulting in an inbredline that is genetically stable (homozygous) and can be reproducedwithout altering the inbred line. Haploid plants could be obtained fromhaploid embryos that might be produced from microspores, pollen, anthercultures or ovary cultures or spontaneous haploidy. The haploid embryosmay then be doubled by chemical treatments such as by colchicine or bedoubled autonomously. The haploid embryos may also be grown into haploidplants and treated to induce the chromosome doubling. In either case,fertile homozygous plants are obtained. A hybrid variety is classicallycreated through the fertilization of an ovule from an inbred parentalline by the pollen of another, different inbred parental line. Due tothe homozygous state of the inbred line, the produced gametes carry acopy of each parental chromosome. As both the ovule and the pollen bringa copy of the arrangement and organization of the genes present in theparental lines, the genome of each parental line is present in theresulting F1 hybrid, theoretically in the arrangement and organizationcreated by the plant breeder in the original parental line.

As long as the homozygosity of the parental lines is maintained, theresulting hybrid cross shall be stable. The F1 hybrid is then acombination of phenotypic characteristics issued from two arrangementand organization of genes, both created by a person skilled in the artthrough the breeding process.

Still further, this invention also is directed to methods for producinga pepper plant derived from hybrid pepper SKYHAWK by crossing hybridpepper plant SKYHAWK with a second pepper plant. In some embodiments,the methods further comprise obtaining a progeny seed from the cross. Insome embodiments, the methods further comprise growing the progeny seed,and possibly repeating the crossing and growing steps with the pepperhybrid plant SKYHAWK-derived plant from 0 to 7 or more times. Thus, anysuch methods using the hybrid pepper plant SKYHAWK are part of thisinvention: selfing, backcrosses, hybrid production, crosses topopulations, and the like. All plants produced using hybrid pepper plantSKYHAWK as a parent are within the scope of this invention, includingplants derived from hybrid pepper plant SKYHAWK. In some embodiments,such plants have one, more than one or all physiological andmorphological characteristics of the pepper hybrid plant SKYHAWK listedin Table 1 including but not limited to as determined at the 5%significance level when grown in the same environmental conditions. Insome embodiments, such plants might exhibit additional and desiredcharacteristics or traits such as high seed yield, high seedgermination, seedling vigor, early maturity, high fruit yield, ease offruit setting, disease tolerance or resistance, lodging resistance andadaptability for soil and climate conditions. Consumer-driven traits,such as a preference for a given fruit size, fruit shape, fruit color,fruit texture, fruit taste, fruit firmness, fruit sugar content areother traits that may be incorporated into new pepper plants developedby this invention.

A pepper plant can also be propagated vegetatively. A part of the plant,for example a shoot tissue, is collected, and a new plant is obtainedfrom the part. Such part typically comprises an apical meristem of theplant. The collected part is transferred to a medium allowingdevelopment of a plantlet, including for example rooting or developmentof shoots, or is grafted onto a pepper plant or a rootstock prepared tosupport growth of shoot tissue. This is achieved using methods wellknown in the art. Accordingly, in one embodiment, a method ofvegetatively propagating a plant of the present invention comprisescollecting a part of a plant according to the present invention, e.g. ashoot tissue, and obtaining a plantlet from said part. In oneembodiment, a method of vegetatively propagating a plant of the presentinvention comprises: a) collecting tissue of a plant of the presentinvention; b) rooting said proliferated shoots to obtain rootedplantlets. In one embodiment, a method of vegetatively propagating aplant of the present invention comprises: a) collecting tissue of aplant of the present invention; b) cultivating said tissue to obtainproliferated shoots; c) rooting said proliferated shoots to obtainrooted plantlets. In one embodiment, such method further comprisesgrowing a plant from said plantlets. In one embodiment, a fruit isharvested from said plant. In one embodiments, such fruits and plantshave all the physiological and morphological characteristics of hybridpepper designated SKYHAWK fruits and plants when grown in the sameenvironmental conditions. In one embodiment, the fruit is processed intoproducts such as canned pepper fruits and/or parts thereof, freeze driedor frozen fruit and/or parts thereof, fresh or prepared fruit and/orparts thereof or pastes, sauces, puree and the like.

The invention is also directed to the use of the hybrid pepper plantSKYHAWK in a grafting process. In one embodiment, the hybrid pepperplant SKYHAWK is used as the scion while in another embodiment, thehybrid pepper plant SKYHAWK is used as a rootstock.

In some embodiments, the present invention teaches a seed of hybridpepper designated SKYHAWK, wherein a representative sample of seed ofsaid hybrid is deposited under NCIMB No. 43396.

In some embodiments, the present invention teaches a pepper plant, or apart thereof, produced by growing the deposited SKYHAWK seed.

In some embodiments, the present invention teaches pepper plant parts,wherein the pepper part is selected from the group consisting of: aleaf, a flower, a fruit, a seed, an ovule, pollen, a cell, a rootstock,and a scion.

In some embodiments, the present invention teaches a pepper plant, or apart thereof, having all of the characteristics of hybrid SKYHAWK aslisted in Table 1 of this application including but not limited to whengrown in the same environmental conditions.

In some embodiments, the present invention teaches a pepper plant, or apart thereof, having all of the physiological and morphologicalcharacteristics of hybrid SKYHAWK, wherein a representative sample ofseed of said hybrid was deposited under NCIMB No. 43396.

In some embodiments, the present invention teaches a tissue culture ofregenerable cells produced from the plant or plant part grown from thedeposited SKYHAWK seed, wherein cells of the tissue culture are producedfrom a plant part selected from the group consisting of protoplasts,embryos, meristematic cells, callus, pollen, ovules, flowers, seeds,leaves, roots, root tips, anthers, stems, petioles, fruits, axillarybuds, cotyledons and hypocotyls. In some embodiments, the plant partincludes protoplasts produced from a plant grown from the depositedSKYHAWK seed.

In some embodiments, the present invention teaches a compositioncomprising regenerable cells produced from the plant or plant part grownfrom the deposited hybrid SKYHAWK seed, or other plant part or plantcell. In some embodiments, the composition comprises a growth media. Insome embodiments, the growth media is solid or a synthetic cultivationmedium. In some embodiments, the composition is a pepper plantregenerated from the tissue culture from a plant grown from thedeposited SKYHAWK seed, said plant having the characteristics of hybridSKYHAWK, wherein a representative sample of seed of said hybrid isdeposited under NCIMB No. 43396.

In some embodiments, the present invention teaches a pepper fruitproduced from the plant grown from the deposited SKYHAWK seed. In oneembodiments, such fruits have all the physiological and morphologicalcharacteristics of hybrid pepper designated SKYHAWK fruits when grown inthe same environmental conditions.

In some embodiments, methods of producing said pepper fruit comprise a)growing the pepper plant from deposited SKYHAWK seed to produce a pepperfruit, and b) harvesting said pepper fruit. In some embodiments, thepresent invention also teaches a pepper fruit produced by the method ofproducing pepper fruit and/or seed as described above. In oneembodiments, such fruits have all the physiological and morphologicalcharacteristics of fruits of hybrid pepper designated SKYHAWK (e.g.those listed in Table 1) when grown in the same environmentalconditions.

In some embodiments, the present invention teaches methods for producinga pepper seed comprising crossing a first parent pepper plant with asecond parent pepper plant and harvesting the resultant pepper seed,wherein said first parent pepper plant and/or second parent pepper plantis the pepper plant produced from the deposited SKYHAWK seed or a pepperplant having all of the characteristics of pepper hybrid SKYHAWK aslisted in Table 1 including but not limited to when grown in the sameenvironmental conditions.

In some embodiments, the present invention teaches methods for producinga pepper seed comprising self-pollinating the pepper plant grown fromthe deposited SKYHAWK seed and harvesting the resultant pepper seed.

In some embodiments, the present invention teaches the seed produced byany of the above described methods.

In some embodiments, the present invention teaches methods ofvegetatively propagating the pepper plant grown from the depositedSKYHAWK seed, said method comprising a) collecting part of a plant grownfrom the deposited SKYHAWK seed and b) regenerating a plant from saidpart.

In some embodiments, the method further comprises harvesting a fruitand/or seed from said vegetatively propagated plant.

In some embodiments, the present invention teaches the plant and thefruit and/or seed of plants vegetatively propagated from plant parts ofplants grown from the deposited SKYHAWK seed. In one embodiments, suchplant, fruits and/or seeds have all the physiological and morphologicalcharacteristics of hybrid pepper designated SKYHAWK plant, fruits and/orseeds of pepper hybrid SKYHAWK (e.g. those listed in Table 1) when grownin the same environmental conditions.

In some embodiments, the present invention teaches methods of producinga pepper plant derived from the hybrid variety SKYHAWK. In someembodiment the methods comprise (a) self-pollinating the plant grownfrom the deposited SKYHAWK seed at least once to produce a progeny plantderived from pepper hybrid SKYHAWK. In some embodiments, the methodfurther comprises (b) crossing the progeny plant derived from pepperhybrid SKYHAWK with itself or a second pepper plant to produce a seed ofa progeny plant of a subsequent generation; and; (c) growing the progenyplant of the subsequent generation from the seed, and crossing theprogeny plant of the subsequent generation with itself or a secondpepper plant to produce a pepper plant derived from the hybrid peppervariety SKYHAWK. In some embodiments said methods further comprise thestep of: (d) repeating steps b) and/or c) for at least 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6,7, or more generation to produce a pepper plant derived from the hybridpepper variety SKYHAWK.

In some embodiments, the present invention teaches methods of producinga pepper plant derived from the hybrid variety SKYHAWK, the methodscomprising (a) crossing the plant grown from the deposited SKYHAWK seedwith a second pepper plant to produce a progeny plant derived frompepper hybrid SKYHAWK. In some embodiments, the method furthercomprises; (b) crossing the progeny plant derived from pepper hybridSKYHAWK with itself or a second pepper plant to produce a seed of aprogeny plant of a subsequent generation; and; (c) growing the progenyplant of the subsequent generation from the seed; (d) crossing theprogeny plant of the subsequent generation with itself or a secondpepper plant to produce a pepper plant derived from the hybrid peppervariety SKYHAWK. In some embodiments said methods further comprise thesteps of: (e) repeating step (b), (c) and/or (d) for at least 1, 2, 3,4, 5, 6, 7 or more generation to produce a pepper plant derived from thehybrid pepper variety SKYHAWK.

In some embodiments, the present invention teaches plants grown from thedeposited SKYHAWK seed wherein said plants comprise a single locusconversion. As used herein, the term “a” or “an” refers to one or moreof that entity; for example, “a single locus conversion” refers to oneor more single locus conversions or at least one single locusconversion. As such, the terms “a” (or “an”), “one or more” and “atleast one” are used interchangeably herein. In addition, reference to“an element” by the indefinite article “a” or “an” does not exclude thepossibility that more than one of the elements are present, unless thecontext clearly requires that there is one and only one of the elements.In some embodiments said single locus conversion confers said plantswith a trait selected from the group consisting of male sterility, malefertility, herbicide resistance, insect resistance, resistance forbacterial, fungal, mycoplasma or viral disease, enhanced plant qualitysuch as improved drought or salt tolerance, water stress tolerance,improved standability, enhanced plant vigor, improved shelf life,delayed senescence or controlled ripening, increased nutritional qualitysuch as increased sugar content or increased sweetness, increasedtexture, flavor and aroma, improved fruit length and/or size, protectionfor color, fruit shape, uniformity, length or diameter, refinement ordepth lodging resistance, yield and recovery when compared to a suitablecheck plant. In some embodiments, the check plant is a pepper hybridSKYHAWK not having said single locus conversion. In some embodiments,the at least one single locus conversion is an artificially mutated geneor a gene or nucleotide sequence modified through the use of NewBreeding Techniques.

In some embodiments, the present invention provides a method ofproducing a commodity plant product comprising collecting the commodityplant product from the plant of the present invention. The commodityplant product produced by said method is also part of the presentinvention.

In addition to the exemplary aspects and embodiments described above,further aspects and embodiments will become apparent by study of thefollowing descriptions.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Definitions

In the description and tables that follow, a number of terms are used.In order to provide a clear and consistent understanding of thespecification and claims, including the scope to be given such terms,the following definitions are provided:

Adaptability. A plant that has adaptability is a plant able to grow wellin different growing conditions (climate, soils, etc.).

Allele. An allele is any of one or more alternative forms of a genewhich relate to one trait or characteristic. In a diploid cell ororganism, the two alleles of a given gene occupy corresponding loci on apair of homologous chromosomes.

Backcrossing. Backcrossing is a process in which a breeder repeatedlycrosses hybrid progeny back to one of the parents, for example, a firstgeneration hybrid Fi with one of the parental genotypes of the Fihybrid.

Commodity plant product. A “commodity plant product” refers to anycomposition or product that is comprised of material derived from aplant, seed, plant cell, or plant part of the present invention.Commodity plant products may be sold to consumers and can be viable ornonviable. Nonviable commodity products include but are not limited tononviable seeds and grains; processed seeds, seed parts, and plantparts; dehydrated plant tissue, frozen plant tissue, and processed planttissue; seeds and plant parts processed for animal feed for terrestrialand/or aquatic animal consumption, oil, meal, flour, flakes, bran,fiber, paper, tea, coffee, silage, crushed of whole grain, and any otherfood for human or animal consumption; and biomasses and fuel products;and raw material in industry.

Collection of seeds. In the context of the present invention acollection of seeds is a grouping of seeds mainly containing similarkind of seeds, for example hybrid seeds having the inbred line of theinvention as a parental line, but that may also contain, mixed togetherwith this first kind of seeds, a second, different kind of seeds, of oneof the inbred parent lines, for example the inbred line of the presentinvention. A commercial bag of hybrid seeds having the inbred line ofthe invention as a parental line and containing also the inbred lineseeds of the invention would be, for example such a collection of seeds.

Decreased vigor. A plant having a decreased vigor in the presentinvention is a plant that, compared to other plants has a less vigorousappearance for vegetative and/or reproductive characteristics includingshorter plant height, small fruit size, fewer fruit or othercharacteristics.

Earliness. The earliness relates the number of fruits produced from 12to 15 days following the beginning of the harvest: the more fruitsproduced, the more earliness of the plant

Easy to pick fruit. A fruit that is easy to pick is a fruit that easilydetaches from the plant. Once grabbed and twisted, the fruit will breakbetween the peduncle and the stem. For fruits not easy to pick, thepeduncle breaks off the fruits. A fruit that is easy to pick is also afruit that is easily accessible for harvest. When plants have an openplant habit, the fruits are harvested more easily than when the plantshave closed habit.

Enhanced nutritional quality. The nutritional quality of the pepper ofthe present invention can be enhanced by the introduction of severaltraits comprising a higher endosperm sugar content, flesh texture, brix,aroma content and increased sweetness, increased lycopene content of thepeel, etc.

Essentially all the physiological and morphological characteristics. Aplant having essentially all the physiological and morphologicalcharacteristics means a plant having the physiological and morphologicalcharacteristics of the recurrent parent, except for the characteristicsderived from the converted gene.

Extended harvest. An extended harvest is a plant that produces fruitsthroughout the harvest season.

Flesh color: In the context of the present invention, the flesh color isthe color of the pepper flesh.

Field holding ability: Field holding ability is the ability for fruitquality to maintain even after fruit is ripe (has turned red).

Grafting. Grafting is the operation by which a rootstock is grafted witha scion. The primary motive for grafting is to avoid damages bysoil-born pest and pathogens when genetic or chemical approaches fordisease management are not available. Grafting a susceptible scion ontoa resistant rootstock can provide a resistant cultivar without the needto breed the resistance into the cultivar. In addition, grafting mayenhance tolerance to abiotic stress, increase yield and result in moreefficient water and nutrient uses.

Good Seed Producer. A plant is a good seed producer when it producesnumerous seeds. For pepper, a good seed producing plant will produce anaverage of 25 grams of seeds during the harvest season.

Immunity to disease(s) and or insect(s). A pepper plant which is notsubject to attack or infection by specific disease(s) and or insect(s)is considered immune.

Industrial usage. The industrial usage of the pepper of the presentinvention comprises the use of the pepper fruit for consumption, whetheras fresh products or in canning, freezing or any other industries.

Intermediate resistance to disease(s) and or insect(s). A pepper plantthat restricts the growth and development of specific disease(s) and orinsect(s), but may exhibit a greater range of symptoms or damagecompared to a resistant plants. Intermediate resistant plants willusually show less severe symptoms or damage than susceptible plantvarieties when grown under similar environmental conditions and/orspecific disease(s) and or insect(s) pressure, but may have heavy damageunder heavy pressure. Intermediate resistant pepper plants are notimmune to the disease(s) and or insect(s).

Maturity. In the region of best adaptability, maturity is the number ofdays from transplanting to optimal time for fruit harvest.

New Breeding Techniques: New breeding techniques are said of various newtechnologies developed and/or used to create new characteristics inplants through genetic variation, the aim being targeted mutagenesis,targeted introduction of new genes or gene silencing (RdDM). Example ofsuch new breeding techniques are targeted sequence changes facilitatedthru the use of Zinc finger nuclease (ZFN) technology (ZFN-1, ZFN-2 andZFN-3, see U.S. Pat. No. 9,145,565, incorporated by reference in itsentirety), Oligonucleotide directed mutagenesis (ODM), Cisgenesis andintragenesis, RNA-dependent DNA methylation (RdDM, which does notnecessarily change nucleotide sequence but can change the biologicalactivity of the sequence), Grafting (on GM rootstock), Reverse breeding,Agro-infiltration (agro-infiltration “sensu stricto”, agro-inoculation,floral dip), Transcription Activator-Like Effector Nucleases (TALEN5,see U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,586,363 and 9,181,535, incorporated by reference intheir entireties), the CRISPR/Cas system (see U.S. Pat. Nos. 8,697,359;8,771,945; 8,795,965; 8,865,406; 8,871,445; 8,889,356; 8,895,308;8,906,616; 8,932,814; 8,945,839; 8,993,233; and 8,999,641, which are allhereby incorporated by reference), engineered meganuclease re-engineeredhoming endonucleases, DNA guided genome editing (Gao et al., NatureBiotechnology (2016), doi: 10.1038/nbt.3547, incorporated by referencein its entirety), and Synthetic genomics). A major part of today'stargeted genome editing, another designation for New BreedingTechniques, is the applications to induce a DNA double strand break(DSB) at a selected location in the genome where the modification isintended. Directed repair of the DSB allows for targeted genome editing.Such applications can be utilized to generate mutations (e.g., targetedmutations or precise native gene editing) as well as precise insertionof genes (e.g., cisgenes, intragenes, or transgenes). The applicationsleading to mutations are often identified as site-directed nuclease(SDN) technology, such as SDN1, SDN2 and SDN3. For SDN1, the outcome isa targeted, non-specific genetic deletion mutation: the position of theDNA DSB is precisely selected, but the DNA repair by the host cell israndom and results in small nucleotide deletions, additions orsubstitutions. For SDN2, a SDN is used to generate a targeted DSB and aDNA repair template (a short DNA sequence identical to the targeted DSBDNA sequence except for one or a few nucleotide changes) is used torepair the DSB: this results in a targeted and predetermined pointmutation in the desired gene of interest. As to the SDN3, the SDN isused along with a DNA repair template that contains new DNA sequence(e.g. gene). The outcome of the technology would be the integration ofthat DNA sequence into the plant genome. The most likely applicationillustrating the use of SDN3 would be the insertion of cisgenic,intragenic, or transgenic expression cassettes at a selected genomelocation. A complete description of each of these techniques can befound in the report made by the Joint Research Center (JRC) Institutefor Prospective Technological Studies of the European Commission in 2011and titled “New plant breeding techniques—State-of-the-art and prospectsfor commercial development”, which is incorporated by reference in itsentirety.

Plant adaptability. A plant having good plant adaptability means a plantthat will perform well in different growing conditions and seasons.

Plant cell. As used herein, the term “plant cell” includes plant cellswhether isolated, in tissue culture, or incorporated in a plant or plantpart.

Plant Part. As used herein, the term plant includes plant cells, plantprotoplasts, plant cell tissue cultures from which pepper plants can beregenerated, plant calli, plant clumps and plant cells that are intactin plants or parts of plants, such as embryos, pollen, ovules, flowers,seeds, fruit, rootstock, scions, stems, roots, anthers, pistils, roottips, leaves, meristematic cells, axillary buds, hypocotyls cotyledons,ovaries, seed coat endosperm and the like. In some embodiments, theplant part at least comprises at least one cell of said plant. In someembodiments, the plant part is further defined as a pollen, a meristem,a cell or an ovule. In some embodiments, a plant regenerated from theplant part has all of the phenotypic and morphological characteristicsof a pepper hybrid of the present invention, including but not limitedto as determined at the 5% significance level when grown in the sameenvironmental conditions.

Quantitative Trait Loci (QTL) Quantitative trait loci refer to geneticloci that control to some degree numerically representable traits thatare usually continuously distributed.

Regeneration. Regeneration refers to the development of a plant fromtissue culture.

Resistance to disease(s) and or insect(s). A pepper plant that restrictsthe growth and development of specific disease(s) and or insect(s) undernormal disease(s) and or insect(s) attack pressure when compared tosusceptible plants. These pepper plants can exhibit some symptoms ordamage under heavy disease(s) and or insect(s) pressure. Resistantpepper plants are not immune to the disease(s) and or insect(s).

Rootstock. A rootstock is the lower part of a plant capable of receivinga scion in a grafting process.

Ribs. The ribs on the fruit may be prominent, inconspicuous ornonexistent. They refer to the ridges along the fruit mostly near thepeduncle.

RHS. RHS refers to the Royal Horticultural Society of England whichpublishes an official botanical color chart quantitatively identifyingcolors according to a defined numbering system. The chart may bepurchased from Royal Hort. Society Enterprise Ltd. RHS Garden; Wisley,Woking, Surrey GU236QB, UK.

Scion. A scion is the higher part of a plant capable of being graftedonto a rootstock in a grafting process.

Single gene converted (conversion). Single gene converted (conversion)plants refer to plants which are developed by a plant breeding techniquecalled backcrossing wherein essentially all of the desired morphologicaland physiological characteristics of a plant are recovered in additionto the single gene transferred into the plant via the backcrossingtechnique or via genetic engineering. A single gene converted plant canalso be referred to a plant obtained though mutagenesis or through theuse of some new breeding techniques, whereas the single gene convertedplant has essentially all of the desired morphological and physiologicalcharacteristics of the original variety in addition to the single geneor nucleotide sequence muted or engineered through the New BreedingTechniques.

Small plant. A small plant has short internodes with petiole lengths ofapproximately 40 cm and a plant height of 40 to 60 cm. It depends on howthe plant spreads out horizontally or vertically.

Susceptible to disease(s) and or insect(s). A pepper plant that issusceptible to disease(s) and or insect(s) is defined as a pepper plantthat has the inability to restrict the growth and development ofspecific disease(s) and or insect(s). Plants that are susceptible willshow damage when infected and are more likely to have heavy damage undermoderate levels of specific disease(s) and or insect(s).

Tolerance to abiotic stresses. A pepper plant that is tolerant toabiotic stresses has the ability to endure abiotic stress withoutserious consequences for growth, appearance and yield.

Uniformity. Uniformity, as used herein, describes the similarity betweenplants or plant characteristics which can be a described by qualitativeor quantitative measurements.

Variety. A plant variety as used by one skilled in the art of plantbreeding means a plant grouping within a single botanical taxon of thelowest known rank which can be defined by the expression of thecharacteristics resulting from a given genotype or combination ofphenotypes, distinguished from any other plant grouping by theexpression of at least one of the said characteristics and considered asa unit with regard to its suitability for being propagated unchanged(International convention for the protection of new varieties ofplants).

Yield (Unit Vol./Acre). The yield in units/acre is the actual yield ofthe pepper at harvest.

Pepper Plants

The term pepper as used in agriculture may refer to quite differentplant species. For example, some plants in the genera Piper, Capsicum,Pimenta, Zanthoxylum, Schinus, and several other species are calledpepper. As used herein, the term pepper mainly refers to a plant speciesin the Capsicum genus, unless specified otherwise.

Capsicum is a genus of flowering plants in the Solanaceae family. Itsspecies are native to the Americas, where they have been cultivated forthousands of years by the people of the tropical Americas, and are nowcultivated worldwide. Some of the members of Capsicum are used asspices, vegetables, and medicines. The fruit of Capsicum plants have avariety of names depending on geographic location and fruit shape ortype. They are commonly called chili pepper, red or green pepper, orsweet pepper in Britain, and typically called just capsicum inAustralia, New Zealand, and Indian English. The large mild form iscalled bell pepper in the U.S. and Canada. They are called paprika insome other countries (although, somewhat confusingly, paprika can alsorefer to the powdered spice made from various capsicum fruit).

The fruit of most species of Capsicum contain capsaicin (methyl vanillylnonenamide), a lipophilic chemical that can produce a strong burningsensation in the mouth of the unaccustomed eater. The secretion ofcapsaicin protects the fruit from consumption by mammals while thebright colors attract birds that will disperse the seeds. Capsaicin ispresent in largest quantities in the placental tissue (which holds theseeds), the internal membranes and, to a lesser extent, the other fleshyparts of the fruits of plants in the genus Capsicum. The seedsthemselves do not produce any capsaicin, although the highestconcentration of capsaicin can be found in the white pith around theseeds. The amount of capsaicin in Capsicums is highly variable anddependent on genetics, giving almost all types of Capsicums variedamounts of perceived heat. The only Capsicum without capsaicin is thebell pepper, a cultivar of Capsicum annuum, which has a zero rating onthe Scoville scale. The lack of capsaicin in bell peppers is due to arecessive gene that eliminates capsaicin and, consequently, the “hot”taste usually associated with the rest of the Capsicum family.

Chili peppers are of great importance in Native American medicine, andcapsaicin is used in modern medicine—mainly in topical medications—as acirculatory stimulant and analgesic. In more recent times, an aerosolextract of capsaicin, usually known as capsicum or pepper spray, hasbecome widely used by police forces as a non-lethal means ofincapacitating a person, and in a more widely dispersed form for riotcontrol, or by individuals for personal defense. Although black pepperand Sichuan pepper cause similar burning sensations, they are caused bydifferent substances—piperine and hydroxy-alpha sanshool, respectively.

Non-limiting exemplary Capsicum species include, C. annuum, C.frutescens, C. chinense, C. pendulum, C. pubescens, C. minimum, C.baccatum, C. abbreviatum, C. anomalum, C. breviflorum, C. buforum, C.brasilianum, C. campylopodium, C. cardenasii, C. chacoense, C. ciliare,C. ciliatum, C. chlorocladium, C. coccineum, C. cordifbrme, C. cornutum,C. dimorphum, C. dusenii, C. exile, C. eximium, C. fasciculatum, C.fastigiatum, C. flexuosum, C. galapagoense, C. geminifolum, C.hookerianum, C. lanceolatum, C. leptopodum, C. luteum, C. microcarpum,C. minutiflorum, C. mirabile, C. parvifolium, C. praetermissum, C.schottianum, C. scolnikianum, C. stramonifolium, C. tetragonum, C.tovarii, C. villosum, and C. violaceum. More Capsicum species aredescribed in Heiser and Smith (The cultivated Capsicum peppers. Econ Bot7:214-227), Pickersgill (1988, The genus Capsicum: a multidisciplinaryapproach to the taxonomy of cultivated and wild plants. BiologischesZentralblatt 107:381-389), De (Capsicum: the genus Capsicum, Volume 33of Medicinal and aromatic plants, Publisher CRC Press, 2003, ISBN0415299918, 9780415299916), Bosland and Votava (Peppers: vegetable andspice capsicums, Issue 12 of Crop production science in horticulture,Publisher CABI, 2000, ISBN 0851993354, 9780851993355), and Andrews(Peppers: the domesticated Capsicums, Publisher University of TexasPress, 1995, ISBN 0292704674, 9780292704671).

Capsicum species have been characterized based on morphology, isozymeanalysis, cytology, hybridization, restriction fragment lengthpolymorphism (RFLP), amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP),random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD), sequence specific amplificationpolymorphism (S-SAP), simple sequence repeat length polymorphism(SSRLP), inter-simple sequence repeats (ISSR), cleaved amplifiedpolymorphic sequence (CAPS), and direct or directed amplification ofminisatellite region DNA amplified using the polymerase chain reaction(DAMD-PCR), for the identification of genotypes or accessions at thetaxonomic level, assessment of the relative diversity or similaritywithin and between species, and selection of diverse accessions withdesirable traits for breeding purposes (Eshbaugh 1993; Prince et al.1992; Rodriguez et al. 1999; Lefebvre et al. 2001; Adetula 2006; Guzmanet al. 2005; Ince et al. 2009).

Most Capsicum species are diploid (2n=2x=24), but there are a fewspecies for which the genome is 2n=2x=32. Capsicum has a large genome,with the DNA content ranging from 7.65 pg/nucleus in C. annuum to 9.72pg/nucleus in C. pubescens, and with a general mean of 8.42 pg/nucleus.Capsicum genes have been studied for almost a century since 1912, and alist of genes and related traits are described by Wang (2006, The Genesof Capsicum, HortScience 41(5) 1169-1187), which is incorporated byreference in its entirety.

Enzymatic studies of Capsicum (Jensen et al., Taxon, 28:315-327, 1979;McLeod et al, 1979a (Bull Torrey Bot Club 106:326-333.), 1979b (Pages701-713 in JG Hawkes, RN Lester, AD Skelding, eds. The biology andtaxonomy of the Solanaceae. Academic Press, London), 1982 (Econ Bot36:361-368), and 1983 (Evolution 37:562-574)) have demonstrated thatCapsicum species can be grouped into three taxonomic categories(Capsicum annuum complex, Capsicum baccatum complex, and Capsicumeximium complex) that somewhat agreed with groupings based on flowercolor.

Capsicum Annuum

Capsicum annum is a domesticated species of the plant genus Capsicumnative to South America and it is now cultivated worldwide. Despitebeing a single species, the Capsicum annuum has many forms, with avariety of names, even in the same language. In American English it iscommonly known as the chili pepper, although not all varieties would berecognized by most speakers under this name. In British English, thesweet varieties are called peppers and the hot varieties are calledchilies, whereas in Australian English the name capsicum is commonlyused for bell peppers exclusively and chili is often used to encompassthe hotter varieties. Its forms are varied, from large to small, sweetto sour, very hot to bland.

The plant is a herbaceous annual, with a densely branched stem. Theplant reaches 0.5-1.5 m (20-60 in). Single white flowers bear the fruitwhich is green when unripe, changing principally to red, although somevarieties may ripen to brown or purple. While the species can toleratemost climates, they are especially productive in warm and dry climates.

Non-limiting exemplary Capsicum annuum varieties include, Aleppo,Anaheim, Bell, Cascabel, Cayenne, Cherry, Chilaca, Chiltepin, Cubanelle,De arbol, Fresno, Guajillo, Guntur, Sannam, Hungarian wax, Italian sweetpepper, Jalapeno, Japanese, Mirasol, Macho, New Mexico, Pepperoncini,Pequin pepper, Poblano, Puya, Serrano, Super Chili, and Tien Tsin.

Bell Pepper

Bell pepper or sweet pepper or sweet bell pepper is a cultivar group ofthe species Capsicum annuum. Cultivars of the plant produce fruits indifferent colors, for example, green, red, yellow, orange, white,purple, and rainbow, depending on when they are harvested and thespecific cultivar. The term “bell pepper” is often used for any of thelarge bell shaped capsicum fruits, regardless of their color. As usedherein, the phrase “bell pepper” is equivalent to “blocky type pepper”or “blocky shape pepper”, as this term is understood by those skilled inthe art of pepper breeding and pepper production. The fruit is alsofrequently consumed in its unripe form, when the fruit is still green.

In the United States and Canada, in addition to the terms “bell pepper”and “sweet pepper,” the fruit is often referred to simply as a “pepper”or referred to by color (e.g. “red pepper”, “green pepper”, “yellowpepper”), although the more specific term “bell pepper” is understood inmost regions. In parts of Indiana, Ohio, and Pennsylvania, the fruit iscalled a “mango”. The origin of this use is in the use of the term“mango” or “mangoed” to refer to pickled fruits. At a certain time,mangoes were available in the United States only in pickled form. Later,it became common in these regions to use bell peppers in pickled form,thus the term “mangoed peppers” or “mango peppers” later shortened to“mangoes.”

Green peppers are less sweet and slightly bitter than red, yellow ororange peppers. The taste of ripe peppers can also vary with growingconditions and post-harvest storage treatment; the sweetest are fruitallowed to ripen fully on the plant in full sunshine, while fruitharvested green and after-ripened in storage are less sweet. Compared togreen peppers, red peppers have more vitamins and nutrients and containthe antioxidant lycopene. The level of carotene, another antioxidant, isnine times higher in red peppers. Red peppers also have twice thevitamin C content of green peppers. Orange bell peppers (or paprikas)contain even more vitamin C and significantly more vitamin A. Orangebell peppers are both juicy and sweet, and because they contain lessthan half the calories of an orange, orange bell peppers arepre-eminently appropriate as a refreshing, low-calorie food, both rawand prepared in any dish. They can be eaten raw without havingindigestion later.

Hybrid vigor has been documented in peppers and hybrids are gaining moreand more popularity amongst farmers with uniformity of plantcharacteristics.

Hybrid commercial pepper seed can be produced by hand pollination.Pollen of the male parent is harvested and manually applied to thestigmatic surface of the female inbred. Prior to and after handpollination, flowers are covered so that insects do not bring foreignpollen and create a mix or impurity. Flowers are tagged to identifypollinated fruit from which seed will be harvested

There are numerous steps in the development of any novel, desirableplant germplasm. Plant breeding begins with the analysis and definitionof problems and weaknesses of the current germplasm, the establishmentof program goals, and the definition of specific breeding objectives.The next step is selection of germplasm that possesses the traits tomeet the program goals. The goal is to combine in a single variety orhybrid an improved combination of desirable traits from the parentalgermplasm.

In pepper, these important traits may include increased fruit number,fruit size and fruit weight, higher seed yield, improved color,resistance to pest, diseases and insects, tolerance to drought and heat,better uniformity, higher nutritional value and better agronomic qualitysuch as favorable plant structure, flesh color or texture, firmness,growth rate, high seed germination, seedling vigor, early fruit setting,ease of fruit setting, adaptability for soil and climate conditions.With mechanical harvesting of processing pepper, fruit settingconcentration, harvestability and field holding are also very important.

In some embodiments, particularly desirable traits that may beincorporated by this invention are improved resistance to differentviral, fungal, and bacterial pathogens. Important diseases include butare not limited to Tobacco Mosaic Virus, (caused by TobamovirusPathotype 0), Tomato Mosaic Virus (caused by Tobamovirus Pathotype 1-2),Pepper Mild Mottle Virus (caused by Tobamovirus Pathotype 1-2-3), PotatoVirus Y (caused by Potato Virus Y Pathotype 0, 1 or 1-2), Phytophthora(caused by Phytophthora capsici), Cucumber Mosaic Virus, Tomato SpottedWilt Virus, Bacterial Spot (caused by Xanthomonas campestris pv.vesicatoria, multiple races). Improved resistance to insect pests isanother desirable trait that may be incorporated into new pepper plantsdeveloped by this invention. Insect pests affecting the various speciesof pepper include, but not limited to arthropod pests such as tutaabsoluta, franklienella occidentalis, bemisia tabaci, etc.

Other desirable traits include traits related to improved pepper fruits.A non-limiting list of fruit phenotypes used during breeding selectioninclude:

-   -   Intensity of Color at Green Stage. The color at green stage is        the measure of the color prior to physiological maturity and is        typically the stage when fruit have reached full size and        firmness to be harvested for commercial sales. It ranges between        very light green to very dark green.    -   pH. The pH is a measure of acidity of the fruit puree. A pH        under 4.5 is desirable to prevent bacterial spoilage of finished        products. pH rises as fruit matures.    -   Fruit Color. Fruit color is measured as Hunters a/b ratio, where        a represents red/green, positive values are red, negative values        are green and 0 is neutral; b represents yellow/blue, where        positive values are yellow, negative values are blue and 0 is        neutral; a/b represents the intense of redness: large value        represents deep red color, small value represents light or        yellowish red color.    -   Fruit Shape. Fruit shape is the overall shape of the intact        fruit and ranges from pointed to blocky.    -   Fruit Weight. The weight of a single fruit or the average of        many fruit measured at harvest maturity and recorded in a        convenient unit of measure.    -   Fruit firmness. The fruit firmness is the resistance to        penetration and is measured using a Digital Durometer Model        DD-4-00 (Rex Gauge Company, Buffalo Grove, Ill., USA). Durometer        readings are taken at 4 locations (each about 90 degrees apart)        on the approximate mid-point of a pepper, with the pepper laying        on its side. From a fruit sample collected at a given location,        the resistance to penetration is measured with the durometer        from 9 individual fruit at 4 locations per fruit (a total of 36        independent measurements). The P5 value is calculated from the        following equation: D-39/10, where D is the value from the        Durometer.    -   Fruit Glossiness. Fruit glossiness is a measure of the        reflectance of the fruit surface and ranges from very weak        (dull) to very strong (shiny).    -   Fruit Texture. Fruit texture is the measure of the surface        texture of the fruit which can range from smooth to strongly        wrinkled.    -   Plant Cover. Plant cover describes the extent of the outer layer        of leaves of an individual plant. The relative area of the        leaves covering or forming a canopy of leaves to cover the fruit        and provide protection from direct sunlight. Scores range from        very poor cover to heavy cover.

Pepper Breeding

The goal of pepper breeding is to develop new, unique and superiorpepper inbred lines and hybrids. The breeder initially selects andcrosses two or more parental lines, followed by repeated selfing andselection, producing many new genetic combinations. Another method usedto develop new, unique and superior pepper inbred lines and hybridsoccurs when the breeder selects and crosses two or more parental linesfollowed by haploid induction and chromosome doubling that result in thedevelopment of dihaploid inbred lines. The breeder can theoreticallygenerate billions of different genetic combinations via crossing,selfing and mutations and the same is true for the utilization of thedihaploid breeding method.

During the development of new pepper inbreds and hybrids, the pepperbreeder uses pepper plants, but also non-commercial pepper plants, suchas plants that may contain characteristics that the breeder has interestin having in its pepper inbreds and hybrids. Such non-commercial pepperplants could be wild relatives of pepper species.

Each year, the plant breeder selects the germplasm to advance to thenext generation. This germplasm is grown under unique and differentgeographical, climatic and soil conditions, and further selections arethen made, during and at the end of the growing season. The inbred linesdeveloped are unpredictable. This unpredictability is because thebreeder's selection occurs in unique environments, with no control atthe DNA level (using conventional breeding procedures or dihaploidbreeding procedures), and with millions of different possible geneticcombinations being generated. A breeder of ordinary skill in the artcannot predict the final resulting lines he develops, except possibly ina very broad and general fashion. This unpredictability results in theexpenditure of large research monies to develop superior new pepperinbred lines and hybrids.

The development of commercial pepper hybrids requires the development ofhomozygous inbred lines, the crossing of these lines, and the evaluationof the F1 hybrid crosses.

Pedigree breeding and recurrent selection breeding methods are used todevelop inbred lines from breeding populations. Breeding programscombine desirable traits from two or more inbred lines or variousbroad-based sources into breeding pools from which inbred lines aredeveloped by selfing and selection of desired phenotypes or through thedihaploid breeding method followed by the selection of desiredphenotypes. The new inbreds are crossed with other inbred lines and thehybrids from these crosses are evaluated to determine which havecommercial potential.

Choice of breeding or selection methods depends on the mode of plantreproduction, the heritability of the trait(s) being improved, and thetype of cultivar used commercially (e.g., Fi hybrid cultivar, purelinecultivar, etc.). For highly heritable traits, a choice of superiorindividual plants evaluated at a single location will be effective,whereas for traits with low heritability, selection should be based onmean values obtained from replicated evaluations of families of relatedplants. Popular selection methods commonly include pedigree selection,modified pedigree selection, mass selection, recurrent selection, andbackcross breeding.

i Pedigree Selection

Pedigree breeding is used commonly for the improvement ofself-pollinating crops or inbred lines of cross-pollinating crops. Twoparents possessing favorable, complementary traits are crossed toproduce an F₁. An F₂ population is produced by selfing one or severalF₁s or by intercrossing two F₁s (sib mating). The dihaploid breedingmethod could also be used. Selection of the best individuals is usuallybegun in the F₂ population; then, beginning in the F₃, the bestindividuals in the best families are selected. Replicated testing offamilies, or hybrid combinations involving individuals of thesefamilies, often follows in the F₄ generation to improve theeffectiveness of selection for traits with low heritability. At anadvanced stage of inbreeding (i.e., F₆ and F₇), the best lines ormixtures of phenotypically similar lines are tested for potential use asparents of new hybrid cultivars. Similarly, the development of newinbred lines through the dihaploid system requires the selection of thebest inbreds followed by two to five years of testing in hybridcombinations in replicated plots.

The single-seed descent procedure in the strict sense refers to plantinga segregating population, harvesting a sample of one seed per plant, andusing the one-seed sample to plant the next generation. When thepopulation has been advanced from the F2 to the desired level ofinbreeding, the plants from which lines are derived will each trace todifferent F2 individuals. The number of plants in a population declineseach generation due to failure of some seeds to germinate or some plantsto produce at least one seed. As a result, not all of the F2 plantsoriginally sampled in the population will be represented by a progenywhen generation advance is completed.

In a multiple-seed procedure, breeders commonly harvest one or morefruit containing seed from each plant in a population and blend themtogether to form a bulk seed lot. Part of the bulked seed is used toplant the next generation and part is put in reserve. The procedure hasbeen referred to as modified single-seed descent or the bulk technique.

The multiple-seed procedure has been used to save labor at harvest. Itis considerably faster than removing one seed from each fruit by handfor the single seed procedure. The multiple-seed procedure also makes itpossible to plant the same number of seeds of a population eachgeneration of inbreeding. Enough seeds are harvested to make up forthose plants that did not germinate or produce seed.

Descriptions of other breeding methods that are commonly used fordifferent traits and crops can be found in one of several referencebooks (e.g., R. W. Allard, 1960, Principles of Plant Breeding, JohnWiley and Son, pp. 115-161; N.W. Simmonds, 1979, Principles of CropImprovement, Longman Group Limited; W. R. Fehr, 1987, Principles of CropDevelopment, Macmillan Publishing Co.; N. F. Jensen, 1988, PlantBreeding Methodology, John Wiley & Sons).

ii Backcross Breeding

Backcross breeding has been used to transfer genes for a simplyinherited, highly heritable trait into a desirable homozygous cultivaror inbred line which is the recurrent parent. The source of the trait tobe transferred is called the donor parent. The resulting plant isexpected to have the attributes of the recurrent parent (e.g., cultivar)and the desirable trait transferred from the donor parent. After theinitial cross, individuals possessing the phenotype recurrent parent andthe trait of interest from the donor parent are selected and repeatedlycrossed (backcrossed) to the recurrent parent. The resulting plant isexpected to have the attributes of the recurrent parent (e.g., cultivar)and the desirable trait transferred from the donor parent.

When the term hybrid pepper plant is used in the context of the presentinvention, this also includes any hybrid pepper plant where one or moredesired trait has been introduced through backcrossing methods, whethersuch trait is a naturally occurring one, a mutant, a transgenic one or agene or a nucleotide sequence modified by the use of New BreedingTechniques. Backcrossing methods can be used with the present inventionto improve or introduce one or more characteristic into the inbredparental line, thus potentially introducing these traits in to thehybrid pepper plant of the present invention. The term “backcrossing” asused herein refers to the repeated crossing of a hybrid progeny back tothe recurrent parent, i.e., backcrossing one, two, three, four, five,six, seven, eight, nine, or more times to the recurrent parent. Theparental pepper plant which contributes the gene or the genes for thedesired characteristic is termed the nonrecurrent or donor parent. Thisterminology refers to the fact that the nonrecurrent parent is used onetime in the backcross protocol and therefore does not recur. Theparental pepper plant to which the gene or genes from the nonrecurrentparent are transferred is known as the recurrent parent as it is usedfor several rounds in the backcrossing protocol.

In a typical backcross protocol, the original inbred of interest(recurrent parent) is crossed to a second inbred (nonrecurrent parent)that carries the gene or genes of interest to be transferred. Theresulting progeny from this cross are then crossed again to therecurrent parent and the process is repeated until a pepper plant isobtained wherein all the desired morphological and physiologicalcharacteristics of the recurrent parent are recovered in the convertedplant, generally determined at a 5% significance level when grown in thesame environmental conditions, in addition to the gene or genestransferred from the nonrecurrent parent. It has to be noted that some,one, two, three or more, self-pollination and growing of populationmight be included between two successive backcrosses. Indeed, anappropriate selection in the population produced by theself-pollination, i.e. selection for the desired trait and physiologicaland morphological characteristics of the recurrent parent might beequivalent to one, two or even three additional backcrosses in acontinuous series without rigorous selection, saving then time, moneyand effort to the breeder. A non-limiting example of such a protocolwould be the following: a) the first generation F1 produced by the crossof the recurrent parent A by the donor parent B is backcrossed to parentA, b) selection is practiced for the plants having the desired trait ofparent B, c) selected plant are self-pollinated to produce a populationof plants where selection is practiced for the plants having the desiredtrait of parent B and physiological and morphological characteristics ofparent A, d) the selected plants are backcrossed one, two, three, four,five, six, seven, eight, nine, or more times to parent A to produceselected backcross progeny plants comprising the desired trait of parentB and the physiological and morphological characteristics of parent A.Step (c) may or may not be repeated and included between the backcrossesof step (d).

The selection of a suitable recurrent parent is an important step for asuccessful backcrossing procedure. The goal of a backcross protocol isto alter or substitute one or more trait(s) or characteristic(s) in theoriginal inbred parental line in order to find it then in the hybridmade thereof. To accomplish this, a gene or genes of the recurrentinbred is modified or substituted with the desired gene or genes fromthe nonrecurrent parent, while retaining essentially all of the rest ofthe desired genetic, and therefore the desired physiological andmorphological, constitution of the original inbred. The choice of theparticular nonrecurrent parent will depend on the purpose of thebackcross; one of the major purposes is to add some commerciallydesirable, agronomically important trait(s) to the plant. The exactbackcrossing protocol will depend on the characteristic(s) or trait(s)being altered to determine an appropriate testing protocol. Althoughbackcrossing methods are simplified when the characteristic beingtransferred is a single gene and dominant allele, multiple genes andrecessive allele(s) may also be transferred and therefore, backcrossbreeding is by no means restricted to character(s) governed by one or afew genes. In fact the number of genes might be less important that theidentification of the character(s) in the segregating population. Inthis instance it may then be necessary to introduce a test of theprogeny to determine if the desired characteristic(s) has beensuccessfully transferred. Such tests encompass visual inspection, simplecrossing, but also follow up of the characteristic(s) throughgenetically associated markers and molecular assisted breeding tools.For example, selection of progeny containing the transferred trait isdone by direct selection, visual inspection for a trait associated witha dominant allele, while the selection of progeny for a trait that istransferred via a recessive allele, such as pepper leaf curl virusresistance in pepper, requires selfing the progeny or using molecularmarkers to determine which plant carry the recessive allele(s).

Many single gene traits have been identified that are not regularlyselected for in the development of a new parental inbred of a hybridpepper plant according to the invention but that can be improved bybackcrossing techniques. Single gene traits may or may not betransgenic. Examples of these traits include but are not limited to,resistance for bacterial, fungal, or viral disease (gene Zym-0 forresistance to Zucchini Yellow Mosaic Virus (ZYMV)), agronomic traits,such as leaf silvering and fruit color, such as green, yellow, white orgrey. These genes are generally inherited through the nucleus.

In 1981, the backcross method of breeding counted for 17% of the totalbreeding effort for inbred line development in the United States,accordingly to, Hallauer, A. R. et al. (1988) “Corn Breeding” Corn andCorn Improvement, No. 18, pp. 463-481.

The backcross breeding method provides a precise way of improvingvarieties that excel in a large number of attributes but are deficientin a few characteristics. (Page 150 of the Pr. R. W. Allard's 1960 book,published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Principles of Plant Breeding). Themethod makes use of a series of backcrosses to the variety to beimproved during which the character or the characters in whichimprovement is sought is maintained by selection. At the end of thebackcrossing the gene or genes being transferred unlike all other genes,will be heterozygous. Selfing after the last backcross produceshomozygosity for this gene pair(s) and, coupled with selection, willresult in a parental line of a hybrid variety with exactly oressentially the same adaptation, yielding ability and qualitycharacteristics of the recurrent parent but superior to that parent inthe particular characteristic(s) for which the improvement program wasundertaken. Therefore, this method provides the plant breeder with ahigh degree of genetic control of his work.

The method is scientifically exact because the morphological andagricultural features of the improved variety could be described inadvance and because a similar variety could, if it were desired, be breda second time by retracing the same steps (Briggs, “Breeding wheatsresistant to bunt by the backcross method”, 1930 Jour. Amer. Soc.Agron., 22: 289-244).

Backcrossing is a powerful mechanism for achieving homozygosity and anypopulation obtained by backcrossing must rapidly converge on thegenotype of the recurrent parent. When backcrossing is made the basis ofa plant breeding program, the genotype of the recurrent parent will betheoretically modified only with regards to genes being transferred,which are maintained in the population by selection.

Successful backcrosses are, for example, the transfer of stem rustresistance from ‘Hope’ wheat to ‘Bart wheat’ and even pursuing thebackcrosses with the transfer of bunt resistance to create ‘Bart 38’,having both resistances. Also highlighted by Allard is the successfultransfer of mildew, leaf spot and wilt resistances in California Commonalfalfa to create ‘Caliverde’. This new ‘Caliverde’ variety producedthrough the backcross process is indistinguishable from CaliforniaCommon except for its resistance to the three named diseases.

One of the advantages of the backcross method is that the breedingprogram can be carried out in almost every environment that will allowthe development of the character being transferred or when usingmolecular markers that can identify the trait of interest.

The backcross technique is not only desirable when breeding for diseaseresistance but also for the adjustment of morphological characters,color characteristics and simply inherited quantitative characters suchas earliness, plant height and seed size and shape. In this regard, amedium grain type variety, ‘Calady’, has been produced by Jones andDavis. As dealing with quantitative characteristics, they selected thedonor parent with the view of sacrificing some of the intensity of thecharacter for which it was chosen, i.e. grain size. ‘Lady Wright’, along grain variety was used as the donor parent and ‘Coloro’, a shortgrain one as the recurrent parent. After four backcrosses, the mediumgrain type variety ‘alady’ was produced.

iii Open-Pollinated Populations

The improvement of open-pollinated populations of such crops as rye,many maizes and sugar beets, herbage grasses, legumes such as alfalfaand clover, and tropical tree crops such as cacao, coconuts, oil palmand some rubber, depends essentially upon changing gene-frequenciestowards fixation of favorable alleles while maintaining a high (but farfrom maximal) degree of heterozygosity.

Uniformity in such populations is impossible and trueness-to-type in anopen-pollinated variety is a statistical feature of the population as awhole, not a characteristic of individual plants. Thus, theheterogeneity of open-pollinated populations contrasts with thehomogeneity (or virtually so) of inbred lines, clones and hybrids.

Population improvement methods fall naturally into two groups, thosebased on purely phenotypic selection, normally called mass selection,and those based on selection with progeny testing. Interpopulationimprovement utilizes the concept of open breeding populations; allowinggenes to flow from one population to another. Plants in one population(cultivar, strain, ecotype, or any germplasm source) are crossed eithernaturally (e.g., by wind) or by hand or by bees (commonly Apis melliferaL. or Megachile rotundata F.) with plants from other populations.Selection is applied to improve one (or sometimes both) population(s) byisolating plants with desirable traits from both sources.

There are basically two primary methods of open-pollinated populationimprovement.

First, there is the situation in which a population is changed en masseby a chosen selection procedure. The outcome is an improved populationthat is indefinitely propagated by random-mating within itself inisolation.

Second, the synthetic variety attains the same end result as populationimprovement, but is not itself propagated as such; it has to bereconstructed from parental lines or clones. These plant breedingprocedures for improving open-pollinated populations are well known tothose skilled in the art and comprehensive reviews of breedingprocedures routinely used for improving cross-pollinated plants areprovided in numerous texts and articles, including: Allard, Principlesof Plant Breeding, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. (1960); Simmonds, Principlesof Crop Improvement, Longman Group Limited (1979); Hallauer and Miranda,Quantitative Genetics in Maize Breeding, Iowa State University Press(1981); and, Jensen, Plant Breeding Methodology, John Wiley & Sons, Inc.(1988).

A) Mass Selection

Mass and recurrent selections can be used to improve populations ofeither self- or cross-pollinating crops. A genetically variablepopulation of heterozygous individuals is either identified or createdby intercrossing several different parents. The best plants are selectedbased on individual superiority, outstanding progeny, or excellentcombining ability. The selected plants are intercrossed to produce a newpopulation in which further cycles of selection are continued. In massselection, desirable individual plants are chosen, harvested, and theseed composited without progeny testing to produce the followinggeneration. Since selection is based on the maternal parent only, andthere is no control over pollination, mass selection amounts to a formof random mating with selection. As stated above, the purpose of massselection is to increase the proportion of superior genotypes in thepopulation.

B) Synthetics

A synthetic variety is produced by intercrossing a number of genotypesselected for good combining ability in all possible hybrid combinations,with subsequent maintenance of the variety by open pollination. Whetherparents are (more or less inbred) seed-propagated lines, as in somesugar beet and beans (Vicia) or clones, as in herbage grasses, cloversand alfalfa, makes no difference in principle. Parents are selected ongeneral combining ability, sometimes by test crosses or toperosses, moregenerally by polycrosses. Parental seed lines may be deliberately inbred(e.g. by selfing or sib crossing). However, even if the parents are notdeliberately inbred, selection within lines during line maintenance willensure that some inbreeding occurs. Clonal parents will, of course,remain unchanged and highly heterozygous.

Whether a synthetic can go straight from the parental seed productionplot to the farmer or must first undergo one or more cycles ofmultiplication depends on seed production and the scale of demand forseed. In practice, grasses and clovers are generally multiplied once ortwice and are thus considerably removed from the original synthetic.

While mass selection is sometimes used, progeny testing is generallypreferred for polycrosses, because of their operational simplicity andobvious relevance to the objective, namely exploitation of generalcombining ability in a synthetic.

The number of parental lines or clones that enters a synthetic varieswidely. In practice, numbers of parental lines range from 10 to severalhundred, with 100-200 being the average. Broad based synthetics formedfrom 100 or more clones would be expected to be more stable during seedmultiplication than narrow based synthetics.

iv. Hybrids

A hybrid is an individual plant resulting from a cross between parentsof differing genotypes. Commercial hybrids are now used extensively inmany crops, including corn (maize), sorghum, sugarbeet, sunflowerbroccoli and tomato. Hybrids can be formed in a number of differentways, including by crossing two parents directly (single cross hybrids),by crossing a single cross hybrid with another parent (three-way ortriple cross hybrids), or by crossing two different hybrids (four-way ordouble cross hybrids).

Strictly speaking, most individuals in an out breeding (i.e.,open-pollinated) population are hybrids, but the term is usuallyreserved for cases in which the parents are individuals whose genomesare sufficiently distinct for them to be recognized as different speciesor subspecies. Hybrids may be fertile or sterile depending onqualitative and/or quantitative differences in the genomes of the twoparents. Heterosis, or hybrid vigor, is usually associated withincreased heterozygosity that results in increased vigor of growth,survival, and fertility of hybrids as compared with the parental linesthat were used to form the hybrid. Maximum heterosis is usually achievedby crossing two genetically different, highly inbred lines.

Hybrid commercial pepper seed is produced by controlled handpollination. The male flowers from the male plants are harvested andused to pollinate the stigmatic surface of the female flowers on thefemale plants. Prior to, and after hand pollination, flowers are coveredso that insects do not bring foreign pollen and create a mix orimpurity. Flowers are tagged to identify pollinated fruit from whichseed will be harvested.

Once the inbreds that give the best hybrid performance have beenidentified, the hybrid seed can be reproduced indefinitely as long asthe homogeneity of the inbred parent is maintained. A single-crosshybrid is produced when two inbred lines are crossed to produce the F1progeny. A double-cross hybrid is produced from four inbred linescrossed in pairs (A×B and C×D) and then the two F1 hybrids are crossedagain (A×B)×(C×D). Much of the hybrid vigor and uniformity exhibited byF1 hybrids is lost in the next generation (F2). Consequently, seed fromF2 hybrid varieties is not used for planting stock.

The production of hybrids is a well-developed industry, involving theisolated production of both the parental lines and the hybrids whichresult from crossing those lines. For a detailed discussion of thehybrid production process, see, e.g., Wright, Commercial Hybrid SeedProduction 8:161-176, In Hybridization of Crop Plants.

v. Bulk Segregation Analysis (BSA)

BSA, a.k.a. bulked segregation analysis, or bulk segregant analysis, isa method described by Michelmore et al. (Michelmore et al., 1991,Identification of markers linked to disease-resistance genes by bulkedsegregant analysis: a rapid method to detect markers in specific genomicregions by using segregating populations. Proceedings of the NationalAcademy of Sciences, USA, 99:9828-9832) and Quarrie et al. (Quarrie etal., 1999, Journal of Experimental Botany, 50(337): 1299-1306).

For BSA of a trait of interest, parental lines with certain differentphenotypes are chosen and crossed to generate F2, doubled haploid orrecombinant inbred populations with QTL analysis. The population is thenphenotyped to identify individual plants or lines having high or lowexpression of the trait. Two DNA bulks are prepared, one from theindividuals having one phenotype (e.g., resistant to virus), and theother from the individuals having reversed phenotype (e.g., susceptibleto virus), and analyzed for allele frequency with molecular markers.Only a few individuals are required in each bulk (e.g., 10 plants each)if the markers are dominant (e.g., RAPDs). More individuals are neededwhen markers are co-dominant (e.g., RFLPs, SNPs or SSRs). Markers linkedto the phenotype can be identified and used for breeding or QTL mapping.

vi. Hand-Pollination Method

Hand pollination describes the crossing of plants via the deliberatefertilization of female ovules with pollen from a desired male parentplant. In some embodiments the donor or recipient female parent and thedonor or recipient male parent line are planted in the same field. Theinbred male parent can be planted earlier than the female parent toensure adequate pollen supply at the pollination time. In someembodiments, the male parent and female parent can be planted at a ratioof 1 male parent to 4-10 female parents. The male parent may be plantedat the top of the field for efficient male flower collection duringpollination. Pollination is started when the female parent flower isready to be fertilized. Female flower buds that are ready to open in thefollowing days are identified, covered with paper cups or small paperbags that prevent bee or any other insect from visiting the femaleflowers, and marked with any kind of material that can be easily seenthe next morning. In some embodiments, this process is best done in theafternoon. The male flowers of the male parent are collected in theearly morning before they are open and visited by pollinating insects.The covered female flowers of the female parent, which have opened, areun-covered and pollinated with the collected fresh male flowers of themale parent, starting as soon as the male flower sheds pollen. Thepollinated female flowers are again covered after pollination to preventbees and any other insects visit. The pollinated female flowers are alsomarked. The marked fruits are harvested. In some embodiments, the malepollen used for fertilization has been previously collected and stored.

vii. Bee-Pollination Method

Using the bee-pollination method, the parent plants are usually plantedwithin close proximity. In some embodiments more female plants areplanted to allow for a greater production of seed. Breeding of dioeciousspecies can also be done by growing equal amount of each parent plant.Insects are placed in the field or greenhouses for transfer of pollenfrom the male parent to the female flowers of the female parent.

viii. Targeting Induced Local Lesions in Genomes (TILLING)

Breeding schemes of the present application can include crosses withTILLING® plant lines. TILLING® is a method in molecular biology thatallows directed identification of mutations in a specific gene. TILLING®was introduced in 2000, using the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana.TILLING® has since been used as a reverse genetics method in otherorganisms such as zebrafish, corn, wheat, rice, soybean, tomato andlettuce.

The method combines a standard and efficient technique of mutagenesiswith a chemical mutagen (e.g., Ethyl methanesulfonate (EMS)) with asensitive DNA screening-technique that identifies single base mutations(also called point mutations) in a target gene. EcoTILLING is a methodthat uses TILLING® techniques to look for natural mutations inindividuals, usually for population genetics analysis (see Comai, etal., 2003 The Plant Journal 37, 778-786; Gilchrist et al. 2006 Mol.Ecol. 15, 1367-1378; Mejlhede et al. 2006 Plant Breeding 125, 461-467;Nieto et al. 2007 BMC Plant Biology 7, 34-42, each of which isincorporated by reference hereby for all purposes). DEcoTILLING is amodification of TILLING® and EcoTILLING which uses an inexpensive methodto identify fragments (Garvin et al., 2007, DEco-TILLING: An inexpensivemethod for SNP discovery that reduces ascertainment bias. MolecularEcology Notes 7, 735-746).

The TILLING® method relies on the formation of heteroduplexes that areformed when multiple alleles (which could be from a heterozygote or apool of multiple homozygotes and heterozygotes) are amplified in a PCR,heated, and then slowly cooled. As DNA bases are not pairing at themismatch of the two DNA strands (the induced mutation in TILLING® or thenatural mutation or SNP in EcoTILLING), they provoke a shape change inthe double strand DNA fragment which is then cleaved by single strandednucleases. The products are then separated by size on several differentplatforms.

Several TILLING® centers exists over the world that focus onagriculturally important species: UC Davis (USA), focusing on Rice;Purdue University (USA), focusing on Maize; University of BritishColumbia (CA), focusing on Brassica napus; John Innes Centre (UK),focusing on Brassica rapa; Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research, focusing onArabidopsis; Southern Illinois University (USA), focusing on Soybean;John Innes Centre (UK), focusing on Lotus and Medicago ; and INRA(France), focusing on Pea and Tomato.

More detailed description on methods and compositions on TILLING® can befound in US 5994075, US 2004/0053236 A1, WO 2005/055704, and WO2005/048692, each of which is hereby incorporated by reference for allpurposes.

Thus in some embodiments, the breeding methods of the present disclosureinclude breeding with one or more TILLING plant lines with one or moreidentified mutations.

viii Mutation Breeding

Mutation breeding is another method of introducing new variation andsubsequent traits into pepper plants. Mutations that occur spontaneouslyor are artificially induced can be useful sources of variability for aplant breeder. The goal of artificial mutagenesis is to increase therate of mutation for a desired characteristic. Mutation rates can beincreased by many different means or mutating agents includingtemperature, long-term seed storage, tissue culture conditions,radiation (such as X-rays, Gamma rays, neutrons, Beta radiation, orultraviolet radiation), chemical mutagens (such as base analogs like5-bromo-uracil), antibiotics, alkylating agents (such as sulfurmustards, nitrogen mustards, epoxides, ethyleneamines, sulfates,sulfonates, sulfones, or lactones), azide, hydroxylamine, nitrous acidor acridines. Once a desired trait is observed through mutagenesis thetrait may then be incorporated into existing germplasm by traditionalbreeding techniques. Details of mutation breeding can be found in W. R.Fehr, 1993, Principles of Cultivar Development, Macmillan Publishing Co.

New breeding techniques such as the ones involving the uses of ZincFinger Nucleases or oligonucleotide directed mutagenesis shall also beused to generate genetic variability and introduce new traits intopepper varieties.

ix. Double Haploids and Chromosome Doubling

One way to obtain homozygous plants without the need to cross twoparental lines followed by a long selection of the segregating progeny,and/or multiple backcrossing is to produce haploids and then double thechromosomes to form doubled haploids. Haploid plants can occurspontaneously, or may be artificially induced via chemical treatments orby crossing plants with inducer lines (Seymour et al. 2012, PNAS vol.109, pg. 4227-4232; Zhang et al., 2008 Plant Cell Rep. Dec 27(12)1851-60). The production of haploid progeny can occur via a variety ofmechanisms which can affect the distribution of chromosomes duringgamete formation. The chromosome complements of haploids sometimesdouble spontaneously to produce homozygous doubled haploids (DHs).Mixoploids, which are plants which contain cells having differentploidies, can sometimes arise and may represent plants that areundergoing chromosome doubling so as to spontaneously produce doubledhaploid tissues, organs, shoots, floral parts or plants. Another commontechnique is to induce the formation of double haploid plants with achromosome doubling treatment such as colchicine (El-Hennawy et al.,2011 Vol 56, issue 2 pg. 63-72; Doubled Haploid Production in CropPlants 2003 edited by Maluszynski ISBN 1-4020-1544-5). The production ofdoubled haploid plants yields highly uniform inbred lines and isespecially desirable as an alternative to sexual inbreeding oflonger-generation crops. By producing doubled haploid progeny, thenumber of possible gene combinations for inherited traits is moremanageable. Thus, an efficient doubled haploid technology cansignificantly reduce the time and the cost of inbred and cultivardevelopment.

x. Protoplast Fusion

In another method for breeding plants, protoplast fusion can also beused for the transfer of trait-conferring genomic material from a donorplant to a recipient plant. Protoplast fusion is an induced orspontaneous union, such as a somatic hybridization, between two or moreprotoplasts (cells of which the cell walls are removed by enzymatictreatment) to produce a single bi- or multi-nucleate cell. The fusedcell that may even be obtained with plant species that cannot beinterbred in nature is tissue cultured into a hybrid plant exhibitingthe desirable combination of traits.

xi. Embryo Rescue

Alternatively, embryo rescue may be employed in the transfer ofresistance-conferring genomic material from a donor plant to a recipientplant. Embryo rescue can be used as a procedure to isolate embryos fromcrosses to rapidly move to the next generation of backcrossing orselfing or wherein plants fail to produce viable seed. In this process,the fertilized ovary or immature seed of a plant is tissue cultured tocreate new plants (see Pierik, 1999, In Vitro Culture of Higher Plants,Springer, ISBN 079235267, 9780792352679, which is incorporated herein byreference in its entirety).

Grafting

Grafting is a process that has been used for many years in crops such ascucurbitacea, but only more recently for some commercial watermelonproduction. Grafting may be used to provide a certain level ofresistance to telluric pathogens such as Phytophthora or to certainnematodes. Grating is therefore intended to prevent contact between theplant or variety to be cultivated and the infested soil. The variety ofinterest used as the graft or scion, optionally an F1 hybrid, is graftedonto the resistant plant used as the rootstock. The resistant rootstockremains healthy and provides, from the soils, the normal supply for thegraft that it isolates from the diseases. In some recent developments,it has also been shown that some rootstocks are also able to improve theagronomic value for the grafted plant and in particular the equilibriumbetween the vegetative and generative development that are alwaysdifficult to balance in pepper cultivation. See for example US20140096289 that describes such improved rootstock pepper plant.

Breeding Evaluation

Each breeding program can include a periodic, objective evaluation ofthe efficiency of the breeding procedure. Evaluation criteria varydepending on the goal and objectives, but should include gain fromselection per year based on comparisons to an appropriate standard,overall value of the advanced breeding lines, and number of successfulcultivars produced per unit of input (e.g., per year, per dollarexpended, etc.).

Promising advanced breeding lines are thoroughly tested per se and inhybrid combination and compared to appropriate standards in environmentsrepresentative of the commercial target area(s). The best lines arecandidates for use as parents in new commercial cultivars; those stilldeficient in a few traits may be used as parents to produce newpopulations for further selection or in a backcross program to improvethe parent lines for a specific trait.

In one embodiment, the plants are selected on the basis of one or morephenotypic traits. Skilled persons will readily appreciate that suchtraits include any observable characteristic of the plant, including forexample growth rate, vigor, plant health, maturity, branching, plantheight, leaf coverage, weight, color, taste, smell, changes in theproduction of one or more compounds by the plant (including for example,metabolites, proteins, drugs, carbohydrates, oils, and any othercompounds).

A most difficult task is the identification of individuals that aregenetically superior, because for most traits the true genotypic valueis masked by other confounding plant traits or environmental factors.One method of identifying a superior plant is to observe its performancerelative to other experimental plants and to a widely grown standardcultivar. If a single observation is inconclusive, replicatedobservations provide a better estimate of its genetic worth.

Proper testing should detect any major faults and establish the level ofsuperiority or improvement over current cultivars. In addition toshowing superior performance, there must be a demand for a new cultivarthat is compatible with industry standards or which creates a newmarket. The introduction of a new cultivar will incur additional coststo the seed producer, the grower, processor and consumer; for specialadvertising and marketing, altered seed and commercial productionpractices, and new product utilization. The testing preceding release ofa new cultivar should take into consideration research and developmentcosts as well as technical superiority of the final cultivar. Forseed-propagated cultivars, it must be feasible to produce seed easilyand economically.

It should be appreciated that in certain embodiments, plants may beselected based on the absence, suppression or inhibition of a certainfeature or trait (such as an undesirable feature or trait) as opposed tothe presence of a certain feature or trait (such as a desirable featureor trait).

Selecting plants based on genotypic information is also envisaged (forexample, including the pattern of plant gene expression, genotype, orpresence of genetic markers). Where the presence of one or more geneticmarker is assessed, the one or more marker may already be known and/orassociated with a particular characteristic of a plant; for example, amarker or markers may be associated with an increased growth rate ormetabolite profile. This information could be used in combination withassessment based on other characteristics in a method of the disclosureto select for a combination of different plant characteristics that maybe desirable. Such techniques may be used to identify novel quantitativetrait loci (QTLs). By way of example, plants may be selected based ongrowth rate, size (including but not limited to weight, height, leafsize, stem size, branching pattern, or the size of any part of theplant), general health, survival, tolerance to adverse physicalenvironments and/or any other characteristic, as described hereinbefore.

Further non-limiting examples include selecting plants based on: speedof seed germination; quantity of biomass produced; increased root,and/or leaf/shoot growth that leads to an increased yield (fruit) orbiomass production; effects on plant growth that results in an increasedseed yield for a crop; effects on plant growth which result in anincreased yield; effects on plant growth that lead to an increasedresistance or tolerance to disease including fungal, viral or bacterialdiseases, to mycoplasma, or to pests such as insects, mites or nematodesin which damage is measured by decreased foliar symptoms such as theincidence of bacterial or fungal lesions, or area of damaged foliage orreduction in the numbers of nematode cysts or galls on plant roots, orimprovements in plant yield in the presence of such plant pests anddiseases; effects on plant growth that lead to increased metaboliteyields; effects on plant growth that lead to improved aesthetic appealwhich may be particularly important in plants grown for their form,color, for example the color intensity of pepper exocarp (skin) of saidfruit.

Molecular Breeding Evaluation Techniques

Selection of plants based on phenotypic or genotypic information may beperformed using techniques such as, but not limited to: high through-putscreening of chemical components of plant origin, sequencing techniquesincluding high through-put sequencing of genetic material, differentialdisplay techniques (including DDRT-PCR, and DD-PCR), nucleic acidmicroarray techniques, RNA-seq (Transcriptome Sequencing), qRTPCR(quantitative real time PCR).

In one embodiment, the evaluating step of a plant breeding programinvolves the identification of desirable traits in progeny plants.Progeny plants can be grown in, or exposed to conditions designed toemphasize a particular trait (e.g. drought conditions for droughttolerance, lower temperatures for freezing tolerant traits). Progenyplants with the highest scores for a particular trait may be used forsubsequent breeding steps.

In some embodiments, plants selected from the evaluation step canexhibit a 1%, 5%, 10%, 15%, 20%, 25%, 30%, 35%, 40%, 45%, 50%, 55%, 60%,65%, 70%, 75%, 80%, 85%, 90%, 95%, 100%, 120% or more improvement in aparticular plant trait compared to a control plant.

In other embodiments, the evaluating step of plant breeding comprisesone or more molecular biological tests for genes or other markers. Forexample, the molecular biological test can involve probe hybridizationand/or amplification of nucleic acid (e.g., measuring nucleic aciddensity by Northern or Southern hybridization, PCR) and/or immunologicaldetection (e.g., measuring protein density, such as precipitation andagglutination tests, ELISA (e.g., Lateral Flow test or DAS-ELISA),Western blot, immune labeling, immunosorbent electron microscopy (ISEM),and/or dot blot).

The procedure to perform a nucleic acid hybridization, an amplificationof nucleic acid (e.g., PCR, RT-PCR) or an immunological detection (e.g.,precipitation and agglutination tests, ELISA (e.g., Lateral Flow test orDAS-ELISA), Western blot, RIA, immunogold or immunofluorescent labeling,immunosorbent electron microscopy (ISEM), and/or dot blot tests) areperformed as described elsewhere herein and well-known by one skilled inthe art.

In one embodiment, the evaluating step comprises PCR (semi-quantitativeor quantitative), wherein primers are used to amplify one or morenucleic acid sequences of a desirable gene, or a nucleic acid associatedwith said gene, or QTL or a desirable trait (e.g., a co-segregatingnucleic acid, or other marker).

In another embodiment, the evaluating step comprises immunologicaldetection (e.g., precipitation and agglutination tests, ELISA (e.g.,Lateral Flow test or DAS-ELISA), Western blot, RIA, immuno labeling(gold, fluorescent, or other detectable marker), immunosorbent electronmicroscopy (ISEM), and/or dot blot), wherein one or more gene ormarker-specific antibodies are used to detect one or more desirableproteins. In one embodiment, said specific antibody is selected from thegroup consisting of polyclonal antibodies, monoclonal antibodies,antibody fragments, and combination thereof.

Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) can be utilizedin the present disclosure to determine expression of a gene to assistduring the selection step of a breeding scheme. It is a variant ofpolymerase chain reaction (PCR), a laboratory technique commonly used inmolecular biology to generate many copies of a DNA sequence, a processtermed “amplification”. In RT-PCR, however, RNA strand is first reversetranscribed into its DNA complement (complementary DNA, or cDNA) usingthe enzyme reverse transcriptase, and the resulting cDNA is amplifiedusing traditional or real-time PCR.

RT-PCR utilizes a pair of primers, which are complementary to a definedsequence on each of the two strands of the mRNA. These primers are thenextended by a DNA polymerase and a copy of the strand is made after eachcycle, leading to logarithmic amplification.

RT-PCR includes three major steps. The first step is the reversetranscription (RT) where RNA is reverse transcribed to cDNA using areverse transcriptase and primers. This step is very important in orderto allow the performance of PCR since DNA polymerase can act only on DNAtemplates. The RT step can be performed either in the same tube with PCR(one-step PCR) or in a separate one (two-step PCR) using a temperaturebetween 40° C. and 50° C., depending on the properties of the reversetranscriptase used.

The next step involves the denaturation of the dsDNA at 95° C., so thatthe two strands separate and the primers can bind again at lowertemperatures and begin a new chain reaction. Then, the temperature isdecreased until it reaches the annealing temperature which can varydepending on the set of primers used, their concentration, the probe andits concentration (if used), and the cation concentration. The mainconsideration, of course, when choosing the optimal annealingtemperature is the melting temperature (Tm) of the primers and probes(if used). The annealing temperature chosen for a PCR depends directlyon length and composition of the primers. This is the result of thedifference of hydrogen bonds between A-T (2 bonds) and G-C (3 bonds). Anannealing temperature about 5 degrees below the lowest Tm of the pair ofprimers is usually used.

The final step of PCR amplification is the DNA extension from theprimers which is done by the thermostable Taq DNA polymerase usually at72° C., which is the optimal temperature for the polymerase to work. Thelength of the incubation at each temperature, the temperaturealterations and the number of cycles are controlled by a programmablethermal cycler. The analysis of the PCR products depends on the type ofPCR applied. If a conventional PCR is used, the PCR product is detectedusing for example agarose gel electrophoresis or other polymer gel likepolyacrylamide gels and ethidium bromide (or other nucleic acidstaining).

Conventional RT-PCR is a time-consuming technique with importantlimitations when compared to real time PCR techniques. Furthermore, thespecificity of the assay is mainly determined by the primers, which cangive false-positive results. However, the most important issueconcerning conventional RT-PCR is the fact that it is a semi or even alow quantitative technique, where the amplicon can be visualized onlyafter the amplification ends.

Real time RT-PCR provides a method where the amplicons can be visualizedas the amplification progresses using a fluorescent reporter molecule.There are three major kinds of fluorescent reporters used in real timeRT-PCR, general nonspecific DNA Binding Dyes such as SYBR Green I,TaqMan Probes and Molecular Beacons (including Scorpions).

The real time PCR thermal cycler has a fluorescence detection threshold,below which it cannot discriminate the difference between amplificationgenerated signal and background noise. On the other hand, thefluorescence increases as the amplification progresses and theinstrument performs data acquisition during the annealing step of eachcycle. The number of amplicons will reach the detection baseline after aspecific cycle, which depends on the initial concentration of the targetDNA sequence. The cycle at which the instrument can discriminate theamplification generated fluorescence from the background noise is calledthe threshold cycle (Ct). The higher is the initial DNA concentration,the lower its Ct will be.

Other forms of nucleic acid detection can include next generationsequencing methods such as DNA SEQ or RNA SEQ using any known sequencingplatform including, but not limited to: Roche 454, Solexa GenomeAnalyzer, AB SOLiD, Illumina GA/HiSeq, Ion PGM, Mi Seq, among others(Liu et al,. 2012 Journal of Biomedicine and Biotechnology Volume 2012ID 251364; Franca et al., 2002 Quarterly Reviews of Biophysics 35 pg.169-200; Mardis 2008 Genomics and Human Genetics vol. 9 pg. 387-402).

In other embodiments, nucleic acids may be detected with other highthroughput hybridization technologies including microarrays, gene chips,LNA probes, nanoStrings, and fluorescence polarization detection amongothers.

In some embodiments, detection of markers can be achieved at an earlystage of plant growth by harvesting a small tissue sample (e.g., branch,or leaf disk). This approach is preferable when working with largepopulations as it allows breeders to weed out undesirable progeny at anearly stage and conserve growth space and resources for progeny whichshow more promise. In some embodiments the detection of markers isautomated, such that the detection and storage of marker data is handledby a machine. Recent advances in robotics have also led to full serviceanalysis tools capable of handling nucleic acid/protein markerextractions, detection, storage and analysis.

Quantitative Trait Loci

Breeding schemes of the present application can include crosses betweendonor and recipient plants. In some embodiments said donor plantscontain a gene or genes of interest which may confer the plant with adesirable phenotype. The recipient line can be an elite line havingcertain favorable traits for commercial production. In one embodiment,the elite line may contain other genes that also impart said line withthe desired phenotype. When crossed together, the donor and recipientplant may create a progeny plant with combined desirable loci which mayprovide quantitatively additive effect of a particular characteristic.In that case, QTL mapping can be involved to facilitate the breedingprocess.

A QTL (quantitative trait locus) mapping can be applied to determine theparts of the donor plant's genome conferring the desirable phenotype,and facilitate the breeding methods. Inheritance of quantitative traitsor polygenic inheritance refers to the inheritance of a phenotypiccharacteristic that varies in degree and can be attributed to theinteractions between two or more genes and their environment. Though notnecessarily genes themselves, quantitative trait loci (QTLs) arestretches of DNA that are closely linked to the genes that underlie thetrait in question. QTLs can be molecularly identified to help mapregions of the genome that contain genes involved in specifying aquantitative trait. This can be an early step in identifying andsequencing these genes.

Typically, QTLs underlie continuous traits (those traits that varycontinuously, e.g. yield, height, level of resistance to virus, etc.) asopposed to discrete traits (traits that have two or several charactervalues, e.g. smooth vs. wrinkled peas used by Mendel in hisexperiments). Moreover, a single phenotypic trait is usually determinedby many genes. Consequently, many QTLs are associated with a singletrait.

A quantitative trait locus (QTL) is a region of DNA that is associatedwith a particular phenotypic trait. Knowing the number of QTLs thatexplains variation in the phenotypic trait tells about the geneticarchitecture of a trait. It may tell that a trait is controlled by manygenes of small effect, or by a few genes of large effect or by a severalgenes of small effect and few genes of larger effect.

Another use of QTLs is to identify candidate genes underlying a trait.Once a region of DNA is identified as contributing to a phenotype, itcan be sequenced. The DNA sequence of any genes in this region can thenbe compared to a database of DNA for genes whose function is alreadyknown.

In a recent development, classical QTL analyses are combined with geneexpression profiling i.e. by DNA microarrays. Such expression QTLs(e-QTLs) describes cis- and trans-controlling elements for theexpression of often disease-associated genes. Observed epistatic effectshave been found beneficial to identify the gene responsible by across-validation of genes within the interacting loci with metabolicpathway- and scientific literature databases.

QTL mapping is the statistical study of the alleles that occur in alocus and the phenotypes (physical forms or traits) that they produce(see, Meksem and Kahl, The handbook of plant genome mapping: genetic andphysical mapping, 2005, Wiley-VCH, ISBN 3527311165, 9783527311163).Because most traits of interest are governed by more than one gene,defining and studying the entire locus of genes related to a trait giveshope of understanding what effect the genotype of an individual mighthave in the real world.

Statistical analysis is required to demonstrate that different genesinteract with one another and to determine whether they produce asignificant effect on the phenotype. QTLs identify a particular regionof the genome as containing one or several genes, i.e. a cluster ofgenes that is associated with the trait being assayed or measured. Theyare shown as intervals across a chromosome, where the probability ofassociation is plotted for each marker used in the mapping experiment.

To begin, a set of genetic markers must be developed for the species inquestion. A marker is an identifiable region of variable DNA. Biologistsare interested in understanding the genetic basis of phenotypes(physical traits). The aim is to find a marker that is significantlymore likely to co-occur with the trait than expected by chance, that is,a marker that has a statistical association with the trait. Ideally,they would be able to find the specific gene or genes in question, butthis is a long and difficult undertaking. Instead, they can more readilyfind regions of DNA that are very close to the genes in question. When aQTL is found, it is often not the actual gene underlying the phenotypictrait, but rather a region of DNA that is closely linked with the gene.

For organisms whose genomes are known, one might now try to excludegenes in the identified region whose function is known with somecertainty not to be connected with the trait in question. If the genomeis not available, it may be an option to sequence the identified regionand determine the putative functions of genes by their similarity togenes with known function, usually in other genomes. This can be doneusing BLAST, an online tool that allows users to enter a primarysequence and search for similar sequences within the BLAST database ofgenes from various organisms.

Another interest of statistical geneticists using QTL mapping is todetermine the complexity of the genetic architecture underlying aphenotypic trait. For example, they may be interested in knowing whethera phenotype is shaped by many independent loci, or by a few loci, andhow do those loci interact. This can provide information on how thephenotype may be evolving.

Molecular markers are used for the visualization of differences innucleic acid sequences. This visualization is possible due to DNA-DNAhybridization techniques (RFLP) and/or due to techniques using thepolymerase chain reaction (e.g. STS, SNPs, microsatellites, AFLP). Alldifferences between two parental genotypes will segregate in a mappingpopulation based on the cross of these parental genotypes. Thesegregation of the different markers may be compared and recombinationfrequencies can be calculated. The recombination frequencies ofmolecular markers on different chromosomes are generally 50%. Betweenmolecular markers located on the same chromosome the recombinationfrequency depends on the distance between the markers. A lowrecombination frequency usually corresponds to a low distance betweenmarkers on a chromosome. Comparing all recombination frequencies willresult in the most logical order of the molecular markers on thechromosomes. This most logical order can be depicted in a linkage map(Paterson, 1996, Genome Mapping in Plants. R.G. Landes, Austin.). Agroup of adjacent or contiguous markers on the linkage map that isassociated to a reduced disease incidence and/or a reduced lesion growthrate pinpoints the position of a QTL.

The nucleic acid sequence of a QTL may be determined by methods known tothe skilled person. For instance, a nucleic acid sequence comprisingsaid QTL or a resistance-conferring part thereof may be isolated from adonor plant by fragmenting the genome of said plant and selecting thosefragments harboring one or more markers indicative of said QTL.Subsequently, or alternatively, the marker sequences (or parts thereof)indicative of said QTL may be used as (PCR) amplification primers, inorder to amplify a nucleic acid sequence comprising said QTL from agenomic nucleic acid sample or a genome fragment obtained from saidplant. The amplified sequence may then be purified in order to obtainthe isolated QTL. The nucleotide sequence of the QTL, and/or of anyadditional markers comprised therein, may then be obtained by standardsequencing methods.

One or more such QTLs associated with a desirable trait in a donor plantcan be transferred to a recipient plant to incorporate the desirabletrait into progeny plants by transferring and/or breeding methods.

In one embodiment, an advanced backcross QTL analysis (AB-QTL) is usedto discover the nucleotide sequence or the QTLs responsible for theresistance of a plant. Such method was proposed by Tanksley and Nelsonin 1996 (Tanksley and Nelson, 1996, Advanced backcross QTL analysis: amethod for simultaneous discovery and transfer of valuable QTL fromun-adapted germplasm into elite breeding lines. Theor Appl Genet92:191-203) as a new breeding method that integrates the process of QTLdiscovery with variety development, by simultaneously identifying andtransferring useful QTL alleles from un-adapted (e.g., land races, wildspecies) to elite germplasm, thus broadening the genetic diversityavailable for breeding. AB-QTL strategy was initially developed andtested in tomato, and has been adapted for use in other crops includingrice, maize, wheat, pepper, barley, and bean. Once favorable QTL allelesare detected, only a few additional marker-assisted generations arerequired to generate near isogenic lines (NILs) or introgression lines(ILs) that can be field tested in order to confirm the QTL effect andsubsequently used for variety development.

Isogenic lines in which favorable QTL alleles have been fixed can begenerated by systematic backcrossing and introgressing of marker-defineddonor segments in the recurrent parent background. These isogenic linesare referred to as near isogenic lines (NILs), introgression lines(ILs), backcross inbred lines (BILs), backcross recombinant inbred lines(BCRIL), recombinant chromosome substitution lines (RCSLs), chromosomesegment substitution lines (CSSLs), and stepped aligned inbredrecombinant strains (STAIRSs). An introgression line in plant molecularbiology is a line of a crop species that contains genetic materialderived from a similar species. ILs represent NILs with relatively largeaverage introgression length, while BILs and BCRILs are backcrosspopulations generally containing multiple donor introgressions per line.As used herein, the term “introgression lines or ILs” refers to plantlines containing a single marker defined homozygous donor segment, andthe term “pre-ILs” refers to lines which still contain multiplehomozygous and/or heterozygous donor segments.

To enhance the rate of progress of introgression breeding, a geneticinfrastructure of exotic libraries can be developed. Such an exoticlibrary comprises a set of introgression lines, each of which has asingle, possibly homozygous, marker-defined chromosomal segment thatoriginates from a donor exotic parent, in an otherwise homogenous elitegenetic background, so that the entire donor genome would be representedin a set of introgression lines. A collection of such introgressionlines is referred as libraries of introgression lines or IL libraries(ILLs). The lines of an ILL cover usually the complete genome of thedonor, or the part of interest. Introgression lines allow the study ofquantitative trait loci, but also the creation of new varieties byintroducing exotic traits. High resolution mapping of QTL using ILLsenable breeders to assess whether the effect on the phenotype is due toa single QTL or to several tightly linked QTL affecting the same trait.In addition, sub-ILs can be developed to discover molecular markerswhich are more tightly linked to the QTL of interest, which can be usedfor marker-assisted breeding (MAB). Multiple introgression lines can bedeveloped when the introgression of a single QTL is not sufficient toresult in a substantial improvement in agriculturally important traits(Gur and Zamir, Unused natural variation can lift yield barriers inplant breeding, 2004, PLoS Biol. ;2(10):e245).

Tissue Culture

As it is well known in the art, tissue culture of pepper can be used forthe in vitro regeneration of pepper plants. Tissues cultures of varioustissues of pepper and regeneration of plants therefrom are well knownand published. By way of example, a tissue culture comprising organs hasbeen used to produce regenerated plants as described in Girish-Chandelet al., Advances in Plant Sciences. 2000, 13: 1, 11-17, Costa et al.,Plant Cell Report. 2000,19: 3327-332, Plastira et al., ActaHorticulturae. 1997, 447, 231-234, Zagorska et al., Plant Cell Report.1998, 17: 12 968-973, Asahura et al., Breeding Science. 1995, 45:455-459, Chen et al., Breeding Science. 1994, 44: 3, 257-262, Patil etal., Plant and Tissue and Organ Culture. 1994, 36: 2,255-258. It isclear from the literature that the state of the art is such that thesemethods of obtaining plants are routinely used and have a very high rateof success. Thus, another aspect of this invention is to provide cellswhich upon growth and differentiation produce pepper plants having thephysiological and morphological characteristics of hybrid pepper plantSKYHAWK.

As used herein, the term “tissue culture” indicates a compositioncomprising isolated cells of the same or a different type or acollection of such cells organized into parts of a plant. Exemplarytypes of tissue cultures are protoplasts, calli, plant clumps, and plantcells that can generate tissue culture that are intact in plants orparts of plants, such as embryos, pollen, flowers, seeds, leaves, stems,roots, root tips, anthers, pistils, meristematic cells, axillary buds,ovaries, seed coat, endosperm, hypocotyls, cotyledons and the like.Means for preparing and maintaining plant tissue culture are well knownin the art. By way of example, a tissue culture comprising organs hasbeen used to produce regenerated plants. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,959,185,5,973,234, and 5,977,445 describe certain techniques, the disclosures ofwhich are incorporated herein by reference.

EXAMPLES

The foregoing examples of the related art and limitations relatedtherewith are intended to be illustrative and not exclusive. Otherlimitations of the related art will become apparent to those of skill inthe art upon a reading of the specification.

Example 1 Development of New SKYHAWK Pepper Variety Breeding History

Pepper hybrid plant SKYHAWK has superior characteristics. The female(FPEP5) and male (MPEP4) parents were crossed to produce hybrid (F1)seeds of SKYHAWK. The seeds of SKYHAWK can be grown to produce hybridplants and parts thereof. The hybrid SKYHAWK can be propagated by seedsproduced from crossing pepper inbred line FPEP5 with pepper inbred lineMPEP4 or vegetatively.

The origin and breeding history of hybrid plant SKYHAWK can besummarized as follows: the line FPEP5 (a proprietary line owned byHM.CLAUSE, Inc.) was used as the female plant and crossed by pollen fromMPEP4 (a proprietary line owned by HM.CLAUSE, Inc.). The first trialplanting of this hybrid was done in Immokalee, Fla. in the spring seasonof the first year. The hybrid was further trialed for three years, anexample of such trials being disclosed in Tables 2 to 3.

The inbred line FPEP5 is used as the female parent in this cross. FPEP5can be characterized as a short plant with a high leaf cover; and heavyset of medium size fruit with uniform shape. Fruit are four lobed andmature from green to red.

The inbred line MPEP4 is used as the male parent in this cross. MPEP4can be characterized as a tall plant, displaying heavy leaf cover with aheavy, uniform set of medium green color fruit. The fruit are fourlobed, extra-large to jumbo size and smooth texture of surface.

Pepper hybrid plant SKYHAWK is similar to pepper hybrid plant 9325. 9325is a commercial variety. While similar to pepper hybrid plant 9325,there are significant differences including leaf cover, SKYHAWK ismedium-heavy; while 9325 has medium leaf cover. Hairiness of nodes isweak for SKYHAWK; while it is absent or very weak for 9325. SKYHAWK hasbigger leaves compared to 9325. SKYHAWK leaves are 15 cm of long; while9325 has leaves 12.5 cm long. The width of SKYHAWK leaf blade is 7 cm;while 9325 has leaf blades 5.5 cm wide. The petiole length of SKYHAWK is6 cm; while 9325 has a petiole length of 4 cm. SKYHAWK displays amedium-light green color fruits; while 9325 medium or dark green colorfruits. Texture of the fruit surface is smooth in SKYHAWK while thefruit surface of 9325 is slightly wrinkled.

Some of the criteria used to select the hybrid SKYHAWK as well as theirinbred parent lines in various generations include: plant architectureand leaf cover, high yield, uniform fruit set, uniform fruit size andshape and uniform green color in the immature fruit.

The pepper hybrid plant SKYHAWK has shown uniformity and stability forthe traits, within the limits of environmental influence, as describedin the following Variety Descriptive Information. No variant traits havebeen observed or are expected for agronomical important traits in pepperhybrid SKYHAWK.

Pepper hybrid plant SKYHAWK has the following morphologic and othercharacteristics, as compared to 9325 (based primarily on data collectedin Immokalee (Fla.); all experiments done under the direct supervisionof the applicant).

TABLE 1 Genus: Capsicum Species: Capsicum annum Hybrid name: SKYHAWKHybrid name: 9325 Plant type: Sweet Rating Rating Seedling: anthocyanincoloration of present present hypocotyl Plant: habit (Attitude)semi-upright semi-upright Plant: length of stem (from cotyledon to 35 cm 35 cm first flower) Plant: anthocyanin coloration of nodes presentpresent Stem: intensity of anthocyanin coloration very weak very weak ofnodes Stem: hairiness of nodes absent or very weak absent or very weakPlant: height medium medium Plant: leaf cover medium medium Leaf: lengthof blade 15 cm 12.5 cm  Leaf: width of blade  7 cm 5.5 cm Leaf: petiolelength  6 cm   4 cm Leaf: intensity of green color medium medium Leaf:shape lanceolate lanceolate Leaf: undulation of margin absent or veryweak absent or very weak Leaf: blistering very weak very weak Leaf:profile in cross section flat flat Leaf: glossiness weak weak Flower:anthocyanin coloration in anther present present Flower: flower numberper leave axil 1 1 Flower: number calyx lobes 5 6 Flower: number petals5 6 Flower: corolla color white white Flower: corolla throat markingsabsent absent Flower: style length shorter than stamen shorter thanstamen Flower: self-incompatibility absent absent Fruit: type bell bellFruit: color (before maturity) green green Fruit: intensity of color(before maturity) light medium Fruit: anthocyanin coloration presentpresent Fruit peduncle: attitude semi-drooping semi-drooping Fruit:attitude drooping drooping Fruit: length short short Fruit: diameterbroad broad Fruit: ratio length/diameter medium medium Fruit: shape inlongitudinal section square square Fruit: shape in cross section (atlevel of circular circular placenta) Fruit: sinuation of pericarp atbasal part weak weak Fruit: sinuation of pericarp excluding basal absentor very weak weak part Fruit: texture of surface smooth slightlywrinkled Fruit: color red red Fruit: intensity of color (at maturity)medium dark Fruit: glossiness medium medium Fruit: stalk cavity presentpresent Fruit: depth of stalk cavity medium medium Fruit: shape of apexvery depressed very depressed Fruit: depth of interloculary grooves veryshallow very shallow Fruit: number of locules equally three and fourpredominantly four and more Fruit: thickness of flesh thick thick Stalk:length  5 cm 5.2 cm Stalk: thickness thick thick Calyx: aspectnon-enveloping non-enveloping Fruit: capsaicin in placenta absent absentFruit: setting pattern semi-concentrate (scattered) semi-concentrate(scattered) Seed: color yellow yellow Anthocyanin: stem present presentAnthocyanin: leaf absent absent Anthocyanin: pedicel absent absentAnthocyanin: calyx absent absent Pungency sweet sweet Resistance toTobamovirus Pathotype 0 (Tobacco MosaicVirus (0)) present presentPathotype 1-2 (Tomato MosaicVirus (1-2)) N/A N/A Pathotype 1-2-3 (PepperMild Mottle Virus (1-2-3)) N/A N/A Resistance to Potato Virus Y (PVY)Pathotype 0 absent absent Pathotype 1 N/A N/A Pathotype 1-2 N/A N/AResistance to Phytophthora capsici absent absent Resistance to CucumberMosaic Virus N/A N/A (CMV) Resistance to Tomato Spotted Wilt Virusabsent absent (TSWV) Resistance to Xanthomonas campestris pv.vesicatoria Xcv 0, 1, 2, 3 7, 8 Present Present Xcv 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 7,8, 9 Present Present Xcv 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 PresentPresent bs5 gene Present Present

Example 2 Field Trials Characteristics of Hybrid Pepper Plant SKYHAWK

In Tables 2, and 3 the traits and characteristics of hybrid pepper plantSKYHAWK are compared to the variety 9325. The data was collected duringseveral growing seasons from several field locations in the UnitedStates, all experiments done under the direct supervision of theapplicant.

TABLE 2 Trial location Parrish, FL Transplanting date September 15 1stharvest date November 24 2nd harvest date December 1 Variety nameSKYHAWK 9325 Yield (1 1/9 Bu. Boxes/Ac.) Jumbo fruit 42.8 214.3Extra-large fruit 866.7 966.7 Large fruit 654.5 109.1 Total Yield 15641290.1

TABLE 3 Trial location Boyton Beach, FL Transplanting date November 21st harvest date January 13 2nd harvest date January 23 Variety nameSKYHAWK 9325 Yield (1 1/9 Bu. Boxes/Ac.) Jumbo fruit 642.8 600Extra-large fruit 400 400 Large fruit 81.8 27.27 Total Yield 1124.61027.27

In Table 2 and 3, the first line shows the trial location, the secondline shows the “transplanting date”, the third lines shows the “1^(st)harvest date”, the fourth line shows the “2^(nd) harvest date”, thefifth line shows the “Variety name”, the sixth through ninth line showthe “Yield” in the number of “1 1/9 bushel (Bu.) boxes per acre”. Lineseven shows the yield of “Jumbo fruit” which are those fruit greaterthan 4 inches in diameter. Line eight shows the yield of “Extra-largefruit” which are those fruit greater than 3.5 inches in diameter andless than 4 inches in diameter. Line nine shows the yield of “Largefruit” which are those greater than 3 inches in diameter and less than3.5 inches in diameter. Line ten shows the “Total Yield” of all fruitsizes.

Deposit Information

A deposit of the pepper seed of this invention is maintained byHM.CLAUSE, Inc. Florida Research Station, 5820 Research Way, Immokalee,Fla. 34142. In addition, a sample of the hybrid pepper seed of thisinvention has been deposited with the National Collections ofIndustrial, Food and Marine Bacteria (NCIMB), 23 St Machar Drive,Aberdeen, Scotland, AB24 3RY, United Kingdom.

To satisfy the enablement requirements of 35 U.S.C. 112, and to certifythat the deposit of the isolated strain of the present invention meetsthe criteria set forth in 37 CFR 1.801-1.809, Applicants hereby make thefollowing statements regarding the deposited hybrid pepper SKYHAWK(deposited as NCIMB Accession No. 43396).

-   1. During the pendency of this application, access to the invention    will be afforded to the Commissioner upon request;-   2. All restrictions on availability to the public will be    irrevocably removed upon granting of the patent under conditions    specified in 37 CFR 1.808;-   3. The deposit will be maintained in a public repository for a    period of 30 years or 5 years after the last request or for the    effective life of the patent, whichever is longer;-   4. A test of the viability of the biological material at the time of    deposit will be conducted by the public depository under 37 CFR    1.807; and-   5. The deposit will be replaced if it should ever become    unavailable.-   Access to this deposit will be available during the pendency of this    application to persons determined by the Commissioner of Patents and    Trademarks to be entitled thereto under 37 C.F.R. § 1.14 and 35    U.S.C. § 122. Upon allowance of any claims in this application, all    restrictions on the availability to the public of the variety will    be irrevocably removed by affording access to a deposit of at least    2,500 seeds of the same variety with the NCIMB.

INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE

All references, articles, publications, patents, patent publications,and patent applications cited herein are incorporated by reference intheir entireties for all purposes.

However, mention of any reference, article, publication, patent, patentpublication, and patent application cited herein is not, and should notbe taken as an acknowledgment or any form of suggestion that theyconstitute valid prior art or form part of the common general knowledgein any country in the world.

1. A seed of Capsicum annuum hybrid pepper designated Skyhawk, wherein arepresentative sample of seed of said hybrid has been deposited underNCIMB No.
 43396. 2. A Cap Capsicum annuum pepper plant, a plant partthereof, or a plant cell thereof, produced by growing the seed of claim1, wherein a pepper plant regenerated from said plant part or plant cellhas all of the physiological and morphological characteristics of hybridSkyhawk listed in Table 1 when grown under the same environmentalconditions.
 3. The Capsicum annuum pepper plant part, or a plant cellthereof of claim 2, wherein the pepper part is selected from the groupconsisting of a leaf, a flower, a fruit, a cell, a rootstock, and ascion.
 4. A Capsicum annuum pepper plant, or a plant part, or a plantcell thereof, wherein said Capsicum annuum pepper plant or a Capsicumannuum pepper plant regenerated from said plant part or plant cell hasall of the physiological and morphological characteristics of hybridSkyhawk listed in Table 1 when grown under the same environmentalconditions, wherein a representative sample of seed of said hybrid hasbeen deposited under NCIMB No.
 43396. 5. A tissue culture of regenerablecells produced from the plant or plant part of claim 2, wherein a plantregenerated from the tissue culture has all of the physiological andmorphological characteristics of hybrid Skyhawk listed in Table 1 whengrown in the same environmental conditions.
 6. A Capsicum annuum pepperplant regenerated from the tissue culture of claim 5, said plant havingall of the physiological and morphological characteristics of hybridSkyhawk, listed in Table 1 when grown under the same environmentalconditions, wherein a representative sample of seed of said hybrid hasbeen deposited under NCIMB No.
 43396. 7. A pepper fruit produced fromthe plant of claim
 2. 8. A method for harvesting a pepper fruit, themethod comprising a) growing the pepper plant of claim 2 to produce apepper fruit, and b) harvesting said pepper fruit.
 9. A pepper fruitproduced by the method of claim
 8. 10. A method for producing a Capsicumannuum pepper seed, the method comprising crossing a first Capsicumannuum parent pepper plant with a second Capsicum annuum pepper plantand harvesting the resultant pepper seed, wherein said first Capsicumannuum parent pepper plant and/or said second Capsicum annuum parentpepper plant is the pepper plant of claim
 2. 11. A method for producinga Capsicum annuum pepper seed, the method comprising self-pollinatingthe pepper plant of claim 2 and harvesting the resultant pepper seed.12. A method of vegetatively propagating the pepper plant of claim 2,said method comprising a) collecting part of the plant of claim 2 and b)regenerating a plant from said part.
 13. The method of claim 12 furthercomprising harvesting a fruit from said plant.
 14. A plant obtained fromthe method of claim 13, wherein said plant has all of the physiologicaland morphological characteristics of hybrid Skyhawk listed in Table 1when grown under the same environmental conditions.
 15. A fruit obtainedfrom the method of claim
 13. 16. A method of producing a Capsicum annuumpepper plant derived from the hybrid pepper plant Skyhawk, the methodcomprising: (a) self-pollinating the plant of claim 2 at least once toproduce a progeny plant derived from the hybrid variety Skyhawk.
 17. Themethod of claim 16 further comprising the steps of: (b) crossing theprogeny plant derived from the hybrid pepper plant Skyhawk with itselfor a second Capsicum annuum pepper plant to produce a seed of progenyplant of subsequent generation; (c) growing the progeny plant of thesubsequent generation from the seed; (d) crossing the progeny plant ofthe subsequent generation with itself or the second Capsicum annuumpepper plant to produce a pepper plant derived from the hybrid pepperplant Skyhawk; and (e) repeating step b) and/or c) for at least onegeneration to produce a pepper plant derived from the pepper hybridSkyhawk.
 18. A method of producing a pepper plant derived from thehybrid pepper plant Skyhawk, the method comprising; (a) crossing theplant of claim 2 with a second pepper plant to produce a progeny plant.19. The method of claim 18 further comprising the steps of: (b) crossingthe progeny plant derived from the hybrid pepper plant Skyhawk withitself or a second pepper plant to produce a seed of progeny plant ofsubsequent generation; (c) growing the progeny plant of the subsequentgeneration from the seed; (d) crossing the progeny plant of thesubsequent generation with itself or a second pepper plant to produce apepper plant derived from the pepper hybrid pepper plant Skyhawk; and(e) repeating step b) and/or c) to produce a pepper plant derived fromthe hybrid pepper plant Skyhawk.
 20. The plant of claim 2 wherein saidplant further comprises a single locus conversion and otherwiseessentially all of the physiological and morphological characteristicsof hybrid pepper plant Skyhawk listed in Table 1 when grown under thesame environmental conditions.
 21. The plant of claim 20 wherein thesingle locus conversion confers said plant with herbicide resistance.22. The plant of claim 20, wherein the single locus conversion is anartificially mutated gene or nucleotide sequence.
 23. The plant of claim20 wherein the single locus conversion is a gene that has been modifiedthrough the use of a New Breeding Technique.
 24. A method of producing apepper plant, the method comprising grafting a rootstock or a scion ofthe hybrid pepper plant of claim 2 to another pepper plant.
 25. A methodfor producing nucleic acids, the method comprising isolating nucleicacids from the plant of claim 2, or a plant part, or a plant cellthereof.
 26. A method for producing a second pepper plant, the methodcomprising applying plant breeding techniques to the plant or plant partof claim 2 to produce the second pepper plant.